Honey the Cat
by RaucousDivinityFF
Summary: Honey and her friends must stop an all powerful foe from taking over the world after ancient beings called Acolytes warn them about their impending doom. Rated M for Strong Language, Yaoi, Yuri, Lemons, and Strong Violence. And yes, I know this story is bad. But maybe it isn't to you :) Gris belongs to Moley-Fox on dA. Don't forget to Fav, Follow, and Review!
1. Lazy

Honey's brown as glistened as she stared at the weak fire that was before her.

"You alright?" Her friend Ray asked.

"You don't seem like yourself," Mighty, another friend said.

They were on Team Relic, a treasure hunting organization that hunted all manner of artifacts, and sold them to the highest bidder in museums.

"I'm fine..." She said. Night had set in the Seaside Forest, as the group were on their way back to their base to return an artifact.

"Is it Agatha?" Ray asked again.

"No...I mean, she's a problem sometimes, but it's not her..."

"What is it?" Mighty asked.

"...something just feels wrong."

"Yeah. I'm surprised Trigger Happy the Weasel and Steroids the Polar Bear haven't shown up..."

"With our luck, they will. Just wait..." Ray replied.

"They aren't that bad..." Honey said.

"Yeah they are! They steal, they swindle...they make honest treasure hunters like us look criminal."

"Nack is okay..." Honey mumbled under her breath.

"Oh really? Do you like him?" Mighty asked him.

"N-no..."

"Don't pay attention to him, he's just angry because you're the only girl that hasn't gone for him," Ray said, a smirk coming across his face.

"Ray, just because we're best friends doesn't mean I won't lay you out right now..."

"Yeah. And you say you aren't egotistical."

"You guys, just knock it off," Honey said. "Maybe this is why I'm the leader."

"Oh really?" Mighty asked.

"Yeah!" Honey said.

Before she could say anything else, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She grabbed it, and tossed the body that was connected to it. It fell the the floor, connected to a plant looking girl. She landed on the floor, back-first.

"Owww..." She groaned.

"Oh! Uhhh..." Honey realised maybe she was a bit too on guard while she was getting ready to fight Mighty. The two have had their fair share of impromptu fights every now and again. "Are you okay?"

She was breathing heavily. "I-I'm...f-fine...just let me rest here..." She said, her voice trailing off.

Ray walked out of the tent. "She'll be fine. She's been through a lot."

"How do you know that?" Mighty asked.

"Well, I've never seen Honey knock someone out that quick before. Plus the stress-induced fever and marks on her body were sort of indicators."

"Well, maybe if Mighty-"

"I don't care if you're a girl, or my friend. And I don't care if our guest is sleeping, I'll still fight you."

"Why do you care so much if you aren't leader anyways?" Honey asked.

"Cause then I feel weak."

Honey sighed. "Mighty..."

"Don't 'Mighty' me. You probably think I'm weak."

"I don't think you're weak. You've beaten me a couple of times."

"So then why are you leader then?"

"...I don't know..."

Mighty scoffed, and went back into his tent. Honey sighed once more.

"Don't worry about him, Honey. It's been hard for him since Matilda left."

"We said it was okay if he left with her," Honey said. "The only reason I fight him is so I can see what's wrong with him...you said our guest is in my tent, right?"

"Yeah. She's very hypervigilant, so she may wake up at any given time, and in a startling way."

"Oh. PTSD?"

"No. I doubt she would've stayed down. She would've tried to fight you."

"So then, what's wrong?"

"I dunno. You check on her and see. I'm going to bed."

Honey walked into her tent, and sat down on the floor. The girl whimpered in her sleep.

"Hmm..." Honey said. She took off her top, and placed it on the floor. Suddenly the girl shot up. Honey screamed, and the girl looked back and screamed at her. She hid under her covers.

"D-don't hurt me! Or I'll...I'll..."

"Easy, easy," Honey said, sitting next to the girl. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Um...um..." She winced, and laid down on her back. "Ouch..."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm...fine...I wish the sun was out though..."

"Oh. Uh, you're a Seedrian, right? I thought they went extinct."

"We...aren't extinct. But our world was destroyed..."

"How?" Honey asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Our leaders...they became blind with hatred. They turned into monsters...literally. They died along with the planet, and their selfish pride..."

"How did you get hurt?"

"I went to Mobius...or so I thought. I'll never understand entities and them having dimensional counterparts."

"You went to Moebius. It's pretty dangerous there."

"Yeah, I know. It looked like Moebius, but once I was there, I was...quickly corrected..."

Honey saw the light from the sun shine over their camp. She put her top back on, and grabbed the girl's hand. "Come on. You can tell me while you heal."

Cosmo sat down on a fallen log, and it seemingly sprouted to life, before soon turning brown and looking defeated. The sun was shining brightly on Cosmo and Honey now.

"I met these two Mobians...one was a green hedgehog, and the other was a crimson fox."

"Oh, yeah..."

"You know them?"

"'Know' is a strong word...I used to be friends with the crimson fox. Let's just say her preference for the bad boys turned her into kind of a bitch," Honey said.

"I'd be against your harsh words over her, but you'd be right."

"As for the green hedgehog, I don't know him. But I bet he's a real charmer."

The girl looked confused. "But he is not. I already alluded to what he did, correct?"

"Eh, never mind. Just a bit of sarcasm."

"Sar...casm?"

"It's when you say something, but in a joking kind of way, so you don't really mean it."

"Huh. It sounds very crude..."

"It can be a lot of the time." Honey watched as the girl's wounds slowly faded away as a result of the sunlight. "I never asked you. What's your name?"

"It's Cosmo," she replied. She seemed a little more relaxed now that her wounds were gone.

"Well, Cosmo, I'm glad you survived this ordeal. And sorry for flipping you. It was an accident."

"It's an improvement over the things that have happened to me lately," Cosmo replied.

"Heh, I'll bet."

"I must get going," Cosmo said.

"But why?"

"There are people I must talk to. They'll help me figure out what to do."

"Well, at least let us return to our base before we see you off."

"Base? Are you part of a military operation?"

"Uh...no...not really. But my cousin is. He's a lot more well known around these parts than I am. I could get you to him after we return."

"I appreciate the sentiment. I'll accompany you to this cousin of yours, if it's not too imposing..."

"Of course not. Um, let me see here," Honey said, her voice trailing off as she headed back into the tent. She made quite a racket before she came out with what looked like a fancy watch. She fitted it onto Cosmo's right arm, and noticed it had a screen.

"What is this?" Cosmo asked.

"A Wrist Communicator. It'll allow you to talk to me whenever. I have a feeling they'll want you to stay with them for a bit."

"They?"

"The Freedom Fighters. If there's anyone who could solve this problem of yours...whatever it is...it would be them."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Any problem I've seen them been faced with, they've solved it themselves. And pretty well, I might add."

"But...can they solve a galactic problem?"

"I'm sure they can. They've done it a few times before."

"A few times?"

"Well, you act like there's a major galactic problem that threatens the survival of everyone in existence every year or so," Honey chuckled.

"Oh, look. Our guest is up," Mighty said.

"Yeah. She's fine now," Honey said.

"That's good. Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Mighty asked.

"That depends. We aren't going to start talking and then halfway through start fighting each other?"

"No. Just come on," Mighty said.

Honey walked with Mighty into the forest.

"Um...I guess I should apologize to you for all those things I said."

"Mighty, I'd really wish you'd just talk about these things instead of just wanting to fight people..."

"It's all I know how to do."

"Why don't you fight Tiara then?"

"She's scary when she fights..."

"Yeah...I guess that question sounded better in my head."

"Look, I just...I want you to help me with something, when you can..."

"What?"

"I need you to help me find Matilda."

"She's fi—"

"She's not fine!" Mighty yelled. "Just...just look."

A video projected itself onto thin air, so that Honey could see it. _"Brother...I need your help...they...did something to me. I can't feel my arms, and I'm in somewhere dark. Please, I-" _Then the video cut out.

"It sounds like they roboticized her," Honey said.

"Yeah," Mighty nodded his head in agreement. "You could hear mechanical whirring."

Suddenly, there was a large racket coming from their camp. Honey's Wrist Communicator rang furiously. She tapped it, and Cosmo's face popped up.

"_Finally. I would've preferred it if you had taught me how to use this first," _Cosmo said.

"What's going on?" Honey said.

"_Some people who do not look very respectable have shown up and let's just say...I take my statement of you flipping me on my back being an improvement."_

"...we'll be right there..."

"Scythe?"

"Scythe..."


	2. Tussle

Honey walked back to the camp. Cosmo spotted her, and walked towards her.

"Where are they-" Honey turned to her left and say a huge wall of thick vines. "Whoa..."

"Yes, 'whoa' indeed. You Mobians have very cooperative plants."

"Um...yeah. Yeah. Okay," Ray said, walking out of his tent. "Not what I was expecting."

"That makes two of us," Mighty said.

"I cannot keep these walls up for long," Cosmo said. "What shall we do?"

"We?" Mighty asked.

"Mighty." Honey whispered sternly.

He sighed. "Can you even fight, Miss Flora?"

"My name is Cosmo. And yes, I can fight if forced to."

"Okay then. We should-" They heard a snapping of branches from the forest. Suddenly, someone familiar walked out. Someone they knew all too well. She was a green armadillo, who was wearing strange clothes.

"...Tilly?" She just walked towards them silently.

"Mighty..." Ray said. "I don't think that's Matilda..."

"Um...Cosmo?" Honey began to ask.

"Yeah?" Cosmo asked back.

"How strong is this wall here?"

"It's strong. However, I can't hold it up if I become incapacitated..."

"Okay. Ray, cover Cosmo. I'll help you. I think Mighty can...help...us." Matilda put her hands up. Or rather, the hands that were attached to robotic apparatuses.

"Target acquired," She said in a monotonous voice.

"Tilly, don't do this," Mighty said, putting his hands up as well.

"I'm...sorry..." Matilda said. She rushed at Mighty, and he dodged her.

"Honey, look out!" Mighty yelled, as Matilda was still charging. Honey gasped, and right as Matilda shot her fist at her, a large vine entangled her. The large wall began to collapse.

"Get ready, Ray," Honey said. "Cosmo, get ready to help Ray. I can take her."

"Um, are you sure-"

"Cosmo, you have to fight. Otherwise I won't be able to take you to the Freedom Fighters."

"...okay."

"Don't worry," Honey said as Cosmo loosened her grip on Matilda. Cosmo stepped to the side warily. "I'll be—" Matilda connected her punch to Honey, and she flew backwards. "FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" She yelled as she shot back into the other side of the forest. As Matilda turned around, Mighty tackled her to the ground. She grunted as she landed on the floor, and as Mighty mounted her, she landed a shot to his jaw. He became angry, and they traded blows with each other. It was like watching two rams lock heads with each other multiple times.

Honey stumbled back towards Cosmo.

"You handled that well," Cosmo said.

"Nice," Honey said, wiping blood from her lips. It stained her white gloves. The vine wall slowly fell down, and they were met with familiar faces.

"I'm real sorry about this, H," one of the weasels said. There were two of them, and one large polar bear. Honey and Ray didn't like the sight of the polar bear, and Cosmo didn't like any of the three all together.

"Cosmo...take a hike," Ray said.

Cosmo hesitated for a short moment before she ran off into the forest.

"I always have to take care of the weaklings," The girl weasel said, and she ran off after Cosmo.

The boy weasel sighed.

"I guess we're gonna do this the hard way?" Honey asked.

"Yeah. And don't expect me to go so easy on ya this time," Nack replied.

"Ray, you know what to do," Honey said. Ray ran off into the forest as well.

"Come and get me, big guy!" He exclaimed, and the polar bear followed him.

"What was that about me going easy on you?"

Cosmo felt her face being compressed as the girl weasel slammed her fist into her cheek. She stumbled backwards, into the tree.

"Aww...what's the matter? Is the poor little plant lady wilting?" She said. Cosmo's foot rocketed towards the girl's nose. The girl grabbed it, picked Cosmo up by it, and drove her on the ground, back first. Her body was laid out, and she was breathing heavily. The girl went to pick her up, but Cosmo drove her foot into the girl's face. She yelled out in pain, and Cosmo slowly picked herself up. The girl yelled in frustration this time, and ran and drove her foot to Cosmo's face. This half knocked her out, but she had to keep going. She grabbed the girl's leg, and threw her into the tree body first. When she bounced off, Cosmo wrapped her arms around the girl's neck. The girl scratched and clawed, but to no avail, as Cosmo dragged her to the ground. She wrapped her legs around the girl's stomach.

"You...bitch..."

Cosmo's consciousness was fading, but she had to make sure this girl went out before she did.

One of the flowers on Cosmo's head sprouted, and let out a soothing aroma. Soon, the girl's arms went limp. Then her entire body. Cosmo let go, and the flower curled up again in a bud.

She stood up, and stumbled back to the camp.

Honey drove her foot to Nack's chin, and it snapped back violently. Then she spun around, and slammed her foot into his stomach. He coughed up a spray of saliva. Then she hit an uppercut to his chin. He lifted off a few feet in the air, and Honey grabbed him and slammed him back first into the ground. He hacked, then his voice cut off, as he fell unconscious.

Honey got up, and ran to where Mighty was. He was unconscious on the ground, on his side. Matilda turned around, and looked at Honey, her hands still up. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Easy, girl," Matilda said.

"New target acquired," Matilda said.

"Come on, Till, cut it out," Honey said. She held fists up, ready to fight.

"...help me..."

"How?" Honey asked. Matilda rushed at her, and shot her fist at Honey, she barely dodged it, and stepped back.

"You'll...have to hurt me. If you hit me hard enough in the head, maybe you could free me from the..." Matilda rushed at Honey again, backwards, slamming her elbow into her cheek. She spun around, dazed. She wrapped her arms around Honey's waist, and bent backwards. She let go at a slight angle, and turned around and slammed Honey into the ground, back first. She groaned in pain.

"Oww..." Honey moaned.

"Sorry..." Matilda said. She mounted Honey, and Honey tried to deliver a series of punches to Matilda's face to get her off. Matilda grabbed her arm, and held it there, while she used her free arm to drive her fist into Honey's chin. Her arms fell to the side. Her eyes were tiny slits, and she was breathing heavily. Suddenly, Mighty tackled Matilda to the ground again, off of Honey.

He stood up, then picked her up, holding her head between his arm and his body. He lifted her legs up, then fell onto the ground, back first, driving her head into the ground. Her body went limp on impact, and her body crumpled to the side.

Mighty walked up to Honey, and extended his hand out. She grabbed it, and he helped her up. She stumbled onto her feet for a moment before regaining her balance.

They saw Ray walking up to them, the polar bear nowhere in sight.

"You can't tell me..." Honey said as she wiped the saliva and blood off her face. "...that you didn't get hurt at all when fighting Bark?"

"Who says I fought him?" Ray said, smiling back.

"You tricked him into following you, and then he just got lost," Mighty said. "Is that it?"

"He never was the smartest." Ray saw Matilda laid out on the ground. "Is Till okay?"

"She's fine," Mighty replied. "Put up a hell of a fight though."

"And those arms didn't help one bit," Honey added.

"So she _was _roboticized," Mighty observed.

"But it's illegal! How could someone have..."

"There's only one place it isn't illegal," Ray said.

"Moebius," Honey said.

"Yeah...Tilly said she was going to Moebius for her training. That's why we were sparring so much before she left," Mighty explained.

"Put her in my tent," Ray said. "I'll patch her up, and then when she wakes up, if she doesn't go berserk on me, we'll see what she has to say."


	3. Evolve

Cosmo walked into the camp a few minutes later, holding her cheek. She sat down on a log, before slumping down to the ground, resting her head on it.

"You alright?" Honey asked.

"I'll be fine. I've been hit with a kick like that before..." Cosmo said groggily.

"So I guess this isn't an improvement over you having a ton of cuts on your back?"

"Only so much so," Cosmo replied, chuckling.

"What was Nic doing here anyway?" Ray asked.

"You ask us like we know," Mighty replied.

"She probably budged in, like she knows how," Honey said.

"You and Nic do have a history," Mighty said.

"I wouldn't call it a history, I'd call it us not really liking each other so we want to beat each other up to prove a point," Honey said.

"That doesn't sound good," Cosmo said. "I'm pretty sure that there would be a peaceful resolution to all that."

"Cosmo, some people, you just have to fight. Whether it's for fun, or it's for real. For the ones that it's fun to fight, it's just so you can have a good time. Y'know, coming together. For the ones that you have to fight for real...you sort of just have to. Sometimes there aren't peaceful resolutions," Honey explained. "I, as much as the next girl, would want things to be peaceful. But for some things, that can't happen."

"...I understand," Cosmo replied.

Team Scythe was long gone. They left about as quick as they had arrived. Night was falling again.

Mighty sighed. "I hate to say this, but we better pack up."

"But Matilda isn't awake yet," Honey said.

"I know. But I'm pretty sure we don't want to incur Tiara's wrath..." Mighty said, shivering.

"Who is this Tiara?" Cosmo said. "She doesn't sound too nice."

"She is nice, sometimes. But she has a quick temper, and she's really strong. Even for being best friends with me, let's just say that we've had some spars that, when it's done and over with, I start to question that friendship."

"Yeah," Ray said. "One time, she knocked me out for an entire hour."

"I can only wonder if she's just going easy on us, just toying with us," Mighty said. The three of them shivered together.

"She even knocked out your mother," Ray said to Honey. "For a whole ten minutes."

"I have no idea how she could've been so nonchalant about it," Honey said. "Before then, my mom was practically undefeated."

"Well, it's a good thing Tiara isn't in the Freestyle Fighting league, otherwise your mother would have some losses under her belt," Mighty said."We'll rest for a few more minutes. But then we're off."

Honey walked into Ray's tent, where Matilda was resting. There were bandages wrapped around her head, and her strange top was off, with bandages wrapped around her torso. She didn't realize that Matilda took so much damage. She was practically fighting as if she were a freight train going a mile a minute. Honey was sure that if Till landed that hit on her, she wouldn't even be awake right now.

Matilda began to stir. She groaned quietly, as her eyes slowly opened. She looked to her left, then to her right. On her left, she saw Honey, sitting there, smiling at her. Matilda sat up slowly, wincing as she got farther into that position.

"Easy there," Honey said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Matilda said. "For a while there, I wasn't sure if you guys were going to beat me."

"Well, we did teach you how to fight. So, what's with the new...arms?" Honey asked.

"...I don't remember. I was in an underground fighting tournament. I had just lost to this one girl. She knocked me for a loop, so I had no idea where I was. I was carried away, and when I woke up, I was in the forest," Matilda explained. "And I wanted to hurt you guys for some reason."

"Well, it's all over now."

"You think so?" Matilda asked.

"Yeah. I'll go tell Mighty you're awake."

Honey was practically sweating bullets.

"So, you mean to tell me, that you took two days longer than scheduled to return an artifact, just to save Matilda and this seedrian girl?" Tiara asked. Matilda and Cosmo were on both sides of her. They were also plenty nervous.

"Look, Tiara..." Honey began to say.

"It's fine..." Tiara replied. "Hand it to me."

Honey was surprised. "R-really?"

"No, I'm still pissed at you. But my dad has been taking me to anger management seminars and whatnot, so I'm trying something new."

"Um...okay..." Honey handed her a strange looking orb. It had strange engravings on it, and an unidentified language all over it.

"I know what that is," Cosmo said.

"Oh really?" Tiara said. "Please do tell."

Tiara handed Cosmo the orb. "It's a really rare ting on Seedria," Cosmo explained. "It give immense power to those who are fit."

"Like what?" Honey asked.

"I could not tell you," Cosmo said. "No one on Seedria has ever been able to use it."

"So it's like a Chaos Emerald," Tiara said. "Do you know what it says?"

"Um...let's see..._chrotak...and. Chrotakand. _It's lightning."

"So, let me get this straight. Anyone who's fit to use this, the power of lightning will come to them?" Tiara asked.

"Yeah. Despite these being rare to find, there were many of them. At least 50. Some would enhance skills you already had, some would give you new powers," Cosmo added.

"Hmm. Interesting..." Tiara said. "Give it to Honey."

"What?!" Honey exclaimed.

"Come on, just try it. So, how do these powers work?" Tiara asked.

"This type of power, would allow you to incorporate energy into your attacks, even shoot it."

"Come on, Honey," Tiara said. "You can't pass up an opportunity like this."

"Ehh...okay."

"Do not worry," Cosmo said. "If what they say is true, you won't just be walking around with lightning powers."

"Okay..." Cosmo handed the orb to Honey. It started glowing profusely in her hands. She closed her eyes, and everything went silent.


	4. Shocker

Visions.

Honey saw visions of herself doing things. Things she couldn't do, or at least, things she thought she couldn't do.

She heard voices. They sounded as if they were muffled, so she just stayed silent, and watched the visions. Suddenly, she jarred awake. Her eyes shot open, and they were covered by white locks of hair. She brushed them away, and soon realized they were hers. She sat up, feeling something strange coursing through her body. She looked at her right arm, and saw strange white marks on them.

"So you're awake," Tiara said.

"What happened?" Honey asked.

"That orb knocked you out...but I guess it worked."

Honey looked at her hands, and they sparked with electricity. "Whoa..."

"Whoa is right. Matilda and Cosmo told me that you were gonna go take them to see Sonic?"

"Yeah. Matilda isn't used to this. I figured she would go talk to Bunnie."

"Huh. Well, I suppose it's time I let you in on a little secret."

"Would this have anything to do with Team Relic joining the Freedom Fighters?"

Tiara looked shocked. Well, part shock, part annoyance, part anger. "How...did you know?"

"When we went out, we got drunk, and you told me that we were going to join the Freedom Fighters."

"Oh yeah...and then you told me how you wanted to go out with that Shadow guy," Tiara said. A look of remembrance crossed her face.

"Tiara!" Honey exclaimed. She was blushing.

"So...we're moving. To New Mobotropolis."

"Yeah. I'll miss this place."

"I know. So, what's this about you-know-who, Sparky?"

"Sparky?" Honey sighed. "So this is why you were urging me to get these powers..." Her hair flashed back to black.

"Heh. Well, get ready to pack up. We're going soon."

The whole ordeal with Team Relic joining the Freedom Fighters was something that was going on for a while. Honey was relatedto Sonic the Hedgehog, a member of the Freedom Fighters, and probably the most well known one there. Whenever Sonic was around, Honey and Team Relic would impress him beyond belief. This cause him to start nagging his ex, Sally Acorn, former Princess of Mobius and Leader of the Freedom Fighters, who eventually decided to see just what the fuss was about.

She wasn't disappointed. And since Tiara and Sally were old friends, it was even easier for them to come to an agreement. So now, Honey, Tiara, Mighty, and Ray, along with Cosmo and Matilda were getting ready to finally go join the Freedom Fighters.

"Do you think these 'Freedom Fighters' will really be able to help me?" Cosmo asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Honey said, reassuring her new friend.

"Why did you not tell me that you were becoming a Freedom Fighter as well?" Cosmo added.

"I guess I sorta forgot."

"How did the artifact suit you? You collapsed in Tiara's office, so I had no idea if it worked or not."

"Um..." Honey stammered. "Hold on." She focused herself. She had to get rid of any thoughts she was having. _Come on, Honey, focus. Just focus. _She felt the lightning course through her veins. Her hair turned white as snow, as did the tip of her tail. Her eyes changed from their normal brown to a nice shade of blue.

"You look beautiful," Cosmo said

"Thanks," Honey said, blushing. "So are there really fifty of these things?"

"No. There's over 200. However, miss Tiara seems-" Honey stopped Cosmo right there.

"Yeah, yeah. I get you. Don't say those things to her though." Honey's hair and the tip of her tail switched back to black.

"Well, I'd say it's an honor to be escortin' you guys to New Mobotropolis," Bunnie said. There was a brown cowboy hat nudged between her ears.

"Why do we need 'escortin' again?" Mighty asked.

"Well, let's jus' say that we have less friends than the most paid whore in a whore house," Bunnie explained.

"I think I get it..." Ray said.

"And I'm pretty sure some folks would jus' love to off some Freedom Fighter members right now."

"How would they know it's us?" Mighty asked.

"Let's jus' say that in a world like this, nothin's a secret."

"ALRIGHTY, EVERYONE, PACK IT IN, WE'RE LEAVING!" Tiara yelled.

"Ya ready, Yellow," Bunnie asked Honey, picking her up with her robotic arm arm and placing her on there. Her arm was extended out, and Honey was now sitting on there, trying to get her balance. She finally wobbled her last, and sat there.

"Yeah, I guess so." Honey got down, and walked into the strange vehicle. When the last of the gang entered, Bunnie closed the door, and grabbed onto the vehicle. She tapped on it lightly with her robotic arm, and they were off.

The car hovered in place before finally zooming forward.

"This is Relic, calling into Freedom, over," Tiara said, pressing a button on the dashboard.

"_Well, well, well, it's about damn time," _A voice said over the speaker.

"Blue, shut up," Tiara said. "Where's Sal at?"

"_The hell if I know. She'll probably be back soon, though. You guys on your way?"_

"No, I'm just calling you to say hi," Tiara said, sarcastically.

"_I appreciate the thought." _He sighed. _"Look, I don't want you guys to screw this up. There's a lot riding on this."_

"Don't I know it," Tiara replied.

Meanwhile, Honey was sleeping in the back.

"Hey, Honey..." Ray began to say.

"Yes..." She replied groggily.

"What is that?" He asked, pointing to her hair. She opened her eyes and looked up. Her hair was white again.

"That thing we found...I kinda absorbed it," Honey replied.

"You what?" Mighty asked, looking at her hair.

"I absorbed the artifact. Tiara gave it to me, and told me to, so I did."

"And now you can change hair colors whenever you want."

"No! I have lightning powers now."

"How?" Ray asked.

"I don't know. Ask Cosmo when she wakes up."

Night had fell, and the moon was shinning brightly in a half-lit circle. The door to the left side had open, and Bunnie crawled in, and sat next to Honey, who was laying down, taking up two seats. Her hair flicked back to normal.

Bunnie placed her hat on Honey's face, and she sighed a muffled sigh.

"What are you doing?" She asked, muffled.

"Jus' playin'. What's with the Snow White hair?" Bunnie asked.

"I don't feel like talking about it right now. Ask Cosmo when she wakes up."

"Why not ask her now? She ain't doin' nothin'."

"Well, she gets really tired at night. That's what all Seedrians do. They sleep at night. I'm pretty sure if you tried talking to her right now."

"Well, aren't ya nocturnal?"

"I took a robotic charged fist to the face. I'm lucky to still be conscious right now. I'd happily take one of Tiara's punches any day over getting punched by you or Matilda."

"Well, I appreciate it very much," Bunnie said, smiling.

Honey laughed. "Um...listen. I'd hate to ask you but...you were one of the roboticizing experiments a while back, right?"

"Yes, I believe I was."

"What happened?"

"Well...I volunteered for it. I was in need for something fun to do."

"And your idea of fun was getting your limbs replaced by robotic parts?"

"Well, I was a young'un, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay, masochist."

Bunnie laughed. "I guess I was lucky though. My legs only got roboticized half-way, so it ain't a big deal."

"Your legs are your highest priority?"

"Yeah. Gotta woo the man at home somehow," Bunnie said.

"I'm surprised he isn't a coward when it comes to the bedroom," Honey said under her breath.

Bunnie rolled her eyes. "He may not be the bravest, but I'd rather have a man who cared about me 'n who I am. He's just the sweetest thing," She said.

"Must be nice."

"Well, maybe if ya weren't going out with all those guys before, this wouldn't've happened, and ya would have a nice guy."

"That has nothing to do with it."

"If ya say so." Bunnie grabbed her hat, and placed it on her head, and nodded off. Honey soon followed, closing her eyes, and going to sleep.

The vehicle abruptly stopped, waking Honey and Bunnie up. It had only been a few hours since they fell asleep. Bunnie opened the door, and stepped out. She closed it when she got out, and so did Tiara. The place looked like a compound, but Honey knew why. After all, despite being just a former princess, Sally was still technically royalty. Not to mention that Mobotropolis was different. It had a different government, and different ways of handling problems.

Tiara and Bunnie got back into the vehicle. Honey was now sitting up, yawning. Her hair was as black as night.

"Well, I guess we're finally here now," Tiara said. The others were still asleep, not jarred by the vehicle's violent stop.

"I'll never understand how you cats can jus' sleep so soundly," Bunnie said.

"Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it," Tiara replied.

"Yeah. It's just so comforting," Honey added.

"Well, I hope ya guys can adjust to this," Bunnie said. "We have someone here who'll want to train ya if they lay eyes on ya."

"Julie, I don't think it's a good idea if you try to train them," Sally said. Julie-Su was sitting in her office.

"Why not?" Julie asked.

"Well, I've seen them in action before. They know what they're doing," Sally explained. "And as for the Seedrian girl, Amy's going to be training her. I'll let you spar with them, if it helps..."

Julie sighed. "You know I just want to help, hon."

"Yeah, I know...but they know what they're doing. Especially Tiara. That may be one person you don't want to spar with." Sally shivered, and held her cheek, as if someone had just slapped her.

"I can handle her if push comes to shove."

"If you have that attitude about her, I hope you enjoy being knocked out for thirty minutes."

"_They're here," _Sonic said from the comm on Sally's desk.

"Well, Julie, just take what I said into account. These guys know what they're doing," Sally said, and walked out of the office.


	5. The Edge

Rouge stepped into New Mobotropolis, and let out a sigh. Shadow the Hedgehog was standing right behind her, and he looked out onto the vast expanse before him

"It's hard to believe there's an entire city free from the rules of G.U.N.," He said to himself.

"Don't get too caught up. We have a job to do," She said back to him.

"You mean I have a job to do," He retorted. "You're probably going to be off stealing jewels and what not."

"Why steal jewels from the people we're going to be working with?" Rouge asked with a sly smile.

"...forget it. Just don't make me shoot you."

"Aw, Shads, you would never shoot lil' old me, would you?"

"It all depends upon if you were hurting innocent people, and jeopardizing the mission at the same time."

"Gee, thanks," Rouge replied sarcastically.

"You were the one who asked me if I was going to shoot you."

"Forget it," Rouge said. "It's not like you'd understand anyway."

"I suppose I wouldn't. I don't try to hurt innocent people for trivial things."

"You tried to destroy Mobius as revenge for you-know-who's death. If that's not hurting people for trivial reasons then I don't know what is."

Another Mobian cat-called to her across the dirt street. She became enraged, and starting yelling at him.

"WATCH IT WISE GUY, I HAVE HALF A MIND TO BREAK YOUR LEGS, AND THE OTHER HALF AGREES!" She yelled infuriatingly.

"How lady-like of you," Shadow observed.

"Oh please," Rouge replied, calming down. "I'm plenty lady-like."

"As we have seen here."

"Shut up..."

"Do you even remember what we're doing here?"

"Yes. Do you need me to remind you because you're so old?"

"Why does everyone keep calling me that? I was stuck in cryo for 50 years, it doesn't mean I am almost 70..."

"It's a joke, hon. Don't get worked up about it."

"So do you remember or not?"

"Of course."

"What is it then?"

"Um...well, uh...it's...to...uh..."

"You don't remember?"

"No, I don't."

Shadow sighed in a frustrated manner. "Someone here absorbed the Seedrian Artifact. We have to stay here for a few months, and watch them to see what happens."

"I bet I know who it is," Rouge said, the sly smile coming across her lips.

"Your friend? The cat?" Shadow asked.

"Her name is Honey. You know, the yellow cat? The one that acts like she's crushing on you majorly whenever she's around you?"

"Ah, yes, that one...and what do you mean crushing?"

"She has a crush...on you. It's too bad you're taken by yours truly," Rouge said seductively, running her finger across the bottom of Shadow's chin.

"Knock it off," Shadow said. Rouge seemed to annoy him for reasons he did not know. She was wearing her casual clothes, which just added to his annoyance. For this, he did not know if he was annoyed because it was attractive, or annoyed because she had always been one to strut her stuff. Either way, he was simply annoyed.

"Come on, let's go," She said, walking away from him. He followed her. He was aware of their 'position' with each other. G.U.N. did not have rules or regulations against co-ed relationships, but it was certainly looked down upon. Not to mention Rouge had gone out with hundred of other men. Sure, just fore the sake of the mission, but not even Shadow knew if she could take it seriously, and wasn't even well-versed in the world of intimate relationships. He did not know why women were always right, he did not know why it was suicide to tell them otherwise. Perhaps before the gamma ray beam hit, all earthlings were maybe slaves to their female spouses. Even the lesbian ones. This seemed to be a viable theory. And maybe when the earthlings, now Mobians, moved to this new planet which was now Mobius, they grew out of their shells and were able to be equal to women.

"That's just childish," Shadow said to himself. Whenever his theories about life reached into a childish like state, he would brush them off. It was an indicator that his theories about the world were insanely wrong.

When he snapped out of his thoughts, he noticed that Rouge was nowhere to be seen.

"Rouge?" He called out. Nothing.

"Have you ever heard of the Fighter's Initiative?" Sally asked Honey as they sat in her office.

"Yeah. It's some thing where scientists track you and you can fight other fighters in a ranking system, right?"

"Yeah, that's it. How do you know about it?"

"I have a cousin that has the number one spot in it. I don't mean to brag through her or anything, but it **does **run in the family."

"Yeah, fighting genes have become a thing now," Sally sighed. "Anyway, we want you to enter it."

"Oh really? Why?"

"We got a request from a wingless blue bat named Marie that requested you specifically. Why, I don't know, but this could be a good chance to test your skills."

"...but what about So-"

"I know what he said...I just...maybe, kinda, sorta wanted to see you do your thing again."

"...are you coming on to me?"

"No."

"Cause, y'know, I **am **bisexual...so I wouldn't mind if..."

"I'm straight."

"Ah, dammit..."

"I just need you to go over to Sunset City and see what's wrong with this girl. It's supposed to be a C to S-rank, so you'll be fine. S-rank being the worst case scenario."

Sunset City was a strange looking place indeed. It was hanging upside down from a huge cliff, and on top of that cliff was a few houses. Probably where the upper class people lived, but nonetheless, an extravagant city, and it housed the Fighter's Initiative.

"_I'll register you in the Fighter's Initiative program. But just remember: when other fighters see you, they'll know you're part of it, and they'll probably try to fight you. You're unranked at the moment though, so they might not have anything to gain from it."_

That was what Sally had told Honey before she left for Sunset City. It was a hop, skip, and a long walk away, but Honey was fine with it.

When she arrived, she found herself at the bottom of the cliff. There was an elevator that led up to the city, which seemed more like a mall than anything else.

"Wow," Honey said to herself. "Amy would love this."

Honey walked to the ladder, which had a few people standing around it. Her vision changed for a moment, something she thought attributed to the chip that was placed on her ear. The people standing at the elevator probably were part of the Fighter's Initiative. But since she was unranked, they would probably leave her alone.

Unfortunately, that's not how it went down.


	6. Sunset Strip

The group at the elevator turned around and looked at Honey for a few awkward moments. This silence wasn't exactly commonplace, but Honey was in a new city with different strings attached to her now, except she was more like a flailing puppet in that she didn't know what to do.

After those brief moments, they chuckled at her. A red cat stepped behind the group though, and the groups chuckles fell silent.

"Don't laugh at her," The red cat said. Her voice was a normal pitch, but there was a seriousness that made it seem a bit more deeper, like every single word had meaning behind it. Their smiles turned to grimaces, but Honey's face turned into a grin.

"Hi, Tareese," She said.

"Hey there, Honey," Tareese replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey! Are you just gonna ignore us?" The small group said.

"Who says I was paying attention to you in the first place?" The crowd growled as Tareese turned her attention back to Honey.

"Oh, somebody requested for me to be here to help them with something, so here I am," Honey explained to the best of her ability without giving away the fact that she was a Freedom Fighter. She knew this crowd was reaching a major hissy-fit status now.

"And you're part of the Fighter's Initiative now?" Murmurs were elicited from the group as they heard this news.

"Y-yeah. Say, the person I'm looking for is part of the Fighter's Initiative. Maybe you could help me look for them?"

"Can't say I'd know anyone from here, but go for it anyway."

"Uh, she was a blue bat with no wings and she wore a blue tube top. She's the one who requested me."

Tareese hesitated before answering. "...can't say I know the girl."

"...you're lying to me aren't you-"

"Hey! Are you just going to stand there and ignore us?" One of the people from the group said. He was a black fox, who wore torn up pants and had a fuzzy muzzle. His hair was white and his tail had a white tip that stood out. "I don't think you're taking us seriously."

"You guys are level 24, 23, 22, and 21, correct?" Tareese asked, turning her attention back to the group. "I don't need to waste my time with you guys. My cousin here could handle herself perfectly, and she's not even ranked."

"Hey!" Honey said. "Don't bring me into this..."

"Don't hand your cousin to me! I'm here to get revenge for Randall...for Marie..."

"Called it," Honey said.

"Shut up," Tareese retorted.

"I don't care who I have to go through to get it!"

"What did you even do Tareese?" Honey asked. She was now concerned. When Tareese got in trouble, it was usually because of fights and all that. But here, someone actually wanted revenge for something she did.

"I'll tell you what she did! She betrayed my cousin and his best friend just so she could be at the top of the ladder."

Tareese sighed. "Are you going to fight him or what?"

"...I'm not going to fight him. You are."

"What makes you think I'm going to do what you say?"

"Because you did something bad, and if you're as tough as you say you are, you'll face it."

"...fine then. But you're gonna watch," Tareese said.

"Um, actually, I have to..."

"You have to what?"

"...nothing, nothing...just...get it over with."

Tareese faced the fox and put her hands up in a fighting stance. "Not that it matters, but who are you?"

The fox was already in his fighting stance. "Well, I'm-" He lowered his stance for a moment. "Wait...you mean Randall never talked about me?"

"No, I don't think so."

"...oh. But nevermind that. I'm Daniel, and you're-"

Tareese rushed toward him and her fist rocketed towards his stomach. It made a loud thud as he coughed and gagged.

"Let me tell you this, Daniel...I feel bad for what I did to your cousin. For the past year-and-a-half, I've regretted it everyday of my life. But it was so I could be the strongest and the best at what I do. And I wouldn't trade that for the world." She pushed him away, then she slammed her fist into his chin. He toppled to the floor, unconscious.

"Oh, jeez," Honey said.

"You say something?" Tareese responded, turning her attention towards Honey again.

"Nothing. Nothing. So, you wanna tell me where I can find this Marie person?"


	7. Abandonment Issues

Honey and Tareese were standing in the elevator. It seemed that no one would go on it if she was there.

"Tareese...what did you do?" Honey asked, after a few minutes. The elevator was being particularly slow.

"Daniel told you," Tareese responded, trying to dodge the subject.

"Uh-uh, you aren't going to do this. What did you do to this girl?" Honey asked.

Tareese sighed. "When this whole thing was getting started, everyone was unranked. The people running the Fighter's Initiative said it would be like that for a month. But people would be told what hypothetical rank they would be at depending on how much they fought. So close to the end of the month, Marie was at first place, I was at second, and Randall was at third. I was sort of jealous of Marie. So I betrayed her, and took her down so I could be ranked number one in the Initiative."

"...So why'd you do it?" Honey asked.

"I don't know why. But Daniel isn't the only one who wanted revenge on me. Randall wants it too," Tareese sighed. "So whatever goes on here, do not tell anyone that you are my cousin. If they see us together, tell them I was just showing you around since you're new to everything."

"Well, you aren't lying," Honey remarked. "So I should just tell them I don't know you?"

"Exactly. Do that, and everything will be fine and dandy."

"Knowing my luck, it's going to be anything but that."

"_Marie lives somewhere around here on the top floor. Her parents are pretty well off, so go figures. Just make sure you don't tell her about me or that we're related." _Honey remembered Tareese say.

She wandered aimlessly around the top floor. It was the floor wight before the top of the cliff, and it had an overwhelming view. She sat on a bench that was placed before the windows, and she thought about exactly what lay before her.

The Fighter's Initiative was a experiment that was currently being run by scientists in Sunset City, of course. If you beat someone who was ranked, and you were ranked as well, the system would switch you out. But if two people fought, and an unranked fighter won, the fighter who was defeated would only move down a spot, while the fighter that won would take their now vacant spot on the ladder. The system was made entirely to test a fighter's strengths. Pretty much the only thing that wasn't allowed was killing. Fighters could use weapons, dirty tactics, anything.

But what didn't explain her reason for being there was why she was needed. She couldn't really do anything to alleviate the situation if that's what Marie wanted her to do.

Honey sighed. "This is really all just screwed, isn't it?" She asked herself.

"Depends on what your definition of screwed is," A woman said behind her.

"Like...'your family member fucked up' screwed."

"That's pretty screwed, alright," The woman said, sitting down beside her. Honey turned her head to look at the woman, and it was a blue, wingless bat.

"You must be Marie," Honey said.

"Yep. That's me. And you must be that girl I requested from the Freedom Fighters."

"Yeah. So, what's going on here?"

"You tell me."

"Well, I don't really..."

"You're a terrible liar. I know you're Tareese's cousin."

"Yeah, people tell me that a lot..."

"But regardless of that, when we were...friends...she told me a lot about you. Apparently, you're really strong. Almost as strong as Tareese even."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Don't put yourself down. But anyway, here's the deal. There's been talk going around that the Fighter's Initiative is going to be ending. It's been around for three years, so it figures they would end it. And the rankings haven't changed much, either. But...I got word that when this is over, Tareese is going to leave."

"Why is that such a big deal?" Honey asked.

"She hasn't repented for the things we've done. I hate to sound like an Auroranist, but she betrayed me. I want to make her pay. I just need you to keep her preoccupied and keep her here when everything is said and done."

"But...when is the Fighter's Initiative going to end?"

"In a day. So that should give you enough time to keep her preoccupied."

"Oh...thanks."

Marie paused. "How about we go do something to pass the time?"

Honey, for some reason, like that idea. "But, what if someone tries to attack us?"

"You seem like a pacifist."

"No, I just prefer to avoid fighting people I don't know."

"Well, luckily for you, I know just the thing." Marie walked close to her. Marie looked at her ear, and began fiddling with the inside of it.

"What are you doing?" Honey asked as she heard a click.

"I'm putting you into passive mode," Marie explained. "That way, people will have less incentive to fight you."

"What do you mean by that? I'm already unranked, so..."

"Well, yeah, but people will want to fight you less. It hides your ranking level from other fighters, so that's a plus." Marie stepped away from Honey.

"Here, follow me. I need to get something from my apartment."

Honey walked into Marie's apartment with her. It was small, but not in a dinged-up-projects sort of way. It was still a nice apartment.

"So, you live here all by yourself?" Honey asked.

"Yeah. My parents used to live here, but they moved away when all this Initiative stuff started happening. They live in Seaside Hill now, actually," Marie explained.

"Oh. Funny, I used to live there."

"How about that," Marie said. Honey looked like she was hesitating to say something, which Marie noticed. "What's wrong with you?"

"Look, about this whole...thing..."

"You don't wanna do it."

"I want to help you. But couldn't there be a better way for you to handle your frustrations...?"

"Like what?"

"Well...um..." Suddenly an idea clicked in Honey's head. She remembered she had overheard Sally talking about holding a tournament to raise funds for the Freedom Fighters so they could get more equipment. An uncharitable cause, but at least she didn't have to betray any of her family members. "A tournament!"

"What?" Marie asked.

"I just remembered that the Freedom Fighters are holding a tournament. Maybe if you join that, you could fight Tareese and get your...'revenge'..."

"You say that in a strange way..."

"Well, let's just say that this was strange and leave it at that."


	8. The First and Last

"_That was easier than I thought," _Sally said over the Wrist Communicator.

"Yeah. She said she wasn't going to provide compensation until she got what she wanted, though," Honey replied.

"_I really wish you hadn't told her about the tournament, though," _Sally sighed.

"I know, but I can't just betray my family."

"_Well...just come back to HQ. I need to talk to you about something."_

Honey walked into Sally's office just a few hours later, slowly dreading the fact that she decided to walk. As she walked in, she felt a familiar tension that she had noticed countless times before. She saw an orange cat with blue hair with long bangs that covered half her face. She wore a black t-shirt and a black skirt with black high heels.

"Oh, Honey, I didn't see you there," Sally said, looking a tiny bit distressed.

"Um-" Immediately, the orange cat jumped up and practically squeezed the life out of Honey with a hug.

All that was heard from her were incoherent grunts.

"Um, May, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't choke her to death..."

"Oh, but I missed my Honey so much!" The woman said.

"Mom...please..." Honey said, slowly wrenching away at her mother's grasp.

The woman let go of her daughter, and was still smiling ecstatically.

"What are you..." Honey was gasping for air. "Doing here?"

"She's been helping us set up the tournament," Sally explained. "I didn't realize you two were directly related with each other, since you guys never talk about each other."

"Oh yeah, that's...nice..."

"And since I was doing all the work for this tournament, I decided to sign you up for it!" The woman said. Her grin turned to a grimace when she looked at Sally. "But not before someone decided they'd try to stop me."

Sally's left cheek was swollen slightly, indicating someone had hit her there. "Sorry, Honey," She apologized.

"So...when is the tournament?" Honey asked.

"Well, we decided since I'm almost done with the tournament preparations, that it would be in two weeks. Don't be in such a rush," the woman said. "Well, it's about time I was off. I'll see you later my darling~"

"Yeah...mom...I'll see you later..." Honey replied.

The woman walked out the door, and Honey sat down in a chair.

Sally just plopped her head down on the desk and sighed. "It's been one of those weeks..."

There was few times when Grisworld Sanders wondered why he was doing what he was doing. It was out of the frying pan and into the fire for him. The "big leagues" as it was referred to; that name had been used so many times, no one knew what the real name of the army was. A black army uniform was fitted onto him, with gold buttons and medals. There was no longer any sand involved in his life, with it's strange separative properties, much like how he felt it would have been. And it truly was if he was in fact in an entirely different army now.

He was a gray fox, and had dark brown marks all over his face. A tuft of hair, two lines down his cheeks...

"Yo, new kid," He heard another soldier across from him say. Gris was in a world of his own at this point.

"Yo, new kid," The soldier said again, a bit more sternly, a mix of frustration and concern in his voice.

No answer.

"HEY!" The soldier yelled. Gris was now more attentive than ever, looking straight into the soldier's eyes. They somehow seemed cold. They didn't mean to be, they just seemed that way. "We're reaching the drop zone. You remember everything?"

Gris just nodded.

"Speak when you're spoken to, kid."

"Yeah," Gris replied.

"This isn't like with your pals from the Sand Army or whatever," the soldier said. "This is it. The 'big leagues.' There's no room for fuck-ups." The soldier was a black cat wearing the same attire Gris was. However, it was white.

"It's the Army of the Sand," Gris replied, somewhat offended by the cat's ignorant response. "And I know what I'm doing."

"Just remember, if you screw this up..." The cat was standing up and he was now getting in Gris' face. "I'm going to make sure it seems like you were knocked out of existence."

Gris stood up as well. "And if you get in my face again, I'll make sure you wish you never had existed."


	9. Switch Lanes

Tough talk for someone as respectful as Gris, but it came back to his roots. He had been disrespectful as a teenager, and he hated it. But when it came down to defending himself in speech, it came naturally.

"Okay then," The black cat said, sitting himself down. There was a locket necklace around his neck. He grabbed the locket and opened it. He smiled slightly, but then checked to see if Gris was looking. He had already turned his attention elsewhere. The cat looked back at the locket and smiled. He was standing next to a yellow cat with a spiky black-tipped tail. She wore white gloves with red padding on them, a strapless red and black top and strange looking skirt which went down to her knees. She had black hair and spiky white-tipped ears.

"Who's the girl?" Gris asked.

"She's not my girl. Or, not in that way. She's my kid sister," The cat said. "I was adopted into her family when I was ten. She was about my age at the time as well."

"How old are you?" Gris asked.

"I'm sixteen," The black cat said. "Let's just get this out of the way. My name is Tenebris. But you can call me Ten."

"That's pretty young if I do say so myself," Gris replied.

"When'd you start all this madness?"

"When I was sixteen, like you. Although if you're here, I'm pretty sure you've been at this for a long time."

"Since I was thirteen. I was really tall, and powerful for my age. So I decided to join the army, although it was illegal...the top brass here sure laughed it up about that though," Ten said, before looking at his locket again. "I miss her though. We even swapped blood with each other."

"That's some pretty deep devotion you have there...kid."

Ten frowned. "I knew you were going to do that when I told you my age."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I thought you were as old as me."

"THAT'S WHY I DIDN'T TELL YOU, JACKASS!" Ten yelled. Gris just laughed as he saw Ten become riddled with seething anger.

"So I guess when we get discharged, you're going to go see her?"

"Yeah, not that it matters to you," Ten said, crossing his arms. In fact, everything about him seemed cross. "You got anyone at home that you know?"

Gris thought for a moment. Someone came to mind, but he banished the thought from his mind. "Not someone like that."

"That's a shame."

"It's not that terrible."

Honey sighed as she was still sitting in Sally's office.

"I'm really sorry about what my mom did to you," Honey apologized.

"You don't need to. I should've known not to go toe-to-toe with a world-class MMA fighter," Sally replied.

"Yeah, she's pretty strong," Honey admitted. "The only person who could beat her was Tiara."

"That reminds me..." Sally pulled out a piece of paper. "Have you heard of a specialized army called the 'big leagues?'"

"Yeah. My brother Ten is with them."

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah. But I can't write him down as like an emergency contact or next of kin. So he practically hasn't existed for maybe 6 months."

"Six months, huh? Well, anyway, I've heard that they've recently taken on a mission involving a dangerous gang."

"Why would this...'big leagues' waste time on a gang?"

"Because they're a lot more ruthless than your average gang. They've raped, murdered, and stolen millions. They've gone crazy, so that's why I suspect the 'big leagues' will want to take them out."

"I hope Ten will be okay..."

Time was non-existent.

As was Gris' perception. He did not know what he was doing, or what he was seeing. All he knew was that the gunfire had ended a few minutes ago, and there was a bullet wound in his stomach.

_That's a lot of blood, _he thought. _That's a lot of my blood._

He was laying against a fallen pillar. The room of the building the gunfight was in was blown sky high. It wasn't a trap, but they certainly had been jumped. An action of opportunity he guessed. A tick of blood ran out the corner of his mouth. He had certainly come back from far worse; but still, the shock of it all worried him.

Ten walked towards him, his own blood covering himself as well.

"Wh...what happened...?" Gris asked groggily.

"We made it..." Ten said. "We made it. They're..."

Gris could feel the hesitation in Ten's voice.

"They're gone...for now." Ten sprayed something on Gris' stomach. He grunted in pain, but soon after was able to stand up. "So what was that?"

"What was what?" Gris asked.

"You just...you went crazy. Thought you were gonna shoot me for a second there,"Ten explained.

"I don't remember..." Gris sighed.

"W-well, the good thing is that we made it." Ten said. "I...I finally get to go home..."

Gris laughed. "Yeah...I guess you do."

"What are you gonna do once you get there?"

"Where?"

"Back."

"I'm not too sure. I'm thinking of joining a Muay Thai circuit actually," Gris said.

"Even after all this, you still wanna fight?" Ten asked.

"It sounds fun," Gris explained.

"...I...wanna join the Freedom Fighters."

"Really? Wouldn't you be doing the same thing?" Gris asked, somewhat mocking Ten's earlier statement.

"Nothing is the same as this, Gris. It would feel right."

"...yeah...it sure does."

"But anyway, that isn't the reason I called you here," Sally said.

"What is it?" Honey asked.

"Well, the thing is," Sally tried to explain. "I need you to help me take care of something."

"Ohh, sounds...mafia-ish."

"It isn't. Well, not exactly."

"What is it?"

"...it looks like Fiona came back."


	10. The Martyrs

Three days had passed since.

It seemed there was a calm that filled the plane. Ten was sleeping in his seat, as if all the difficulties of the war had thrown him into an eternal slumber.

Gris had his eyes closed, but he was not sleeping. Something else had caught his attention. The Lost had always intrigued him. He had heard stories of the cult-like drive that made them do the things they did.

And he also knew that they were probably following them.

It was one of the things he was taught. "If you mess with someone major, there will be repercussions." But he didn't know how big those repercussions would be. He opened his eyes, and looked out the window. A familiar yet unfamiliar landscape was laid out before him.

It was home. But now he just needed to find one.

Honey was nonetheless scared of situations like these. The idea of revenge had always perplexed her. Especially if the feeling was as intense as Sally's. They were sitting on a curb outside the gate. Or rather, Sally was laying down, and Honey was sitting.

"Sally," Honey began to say.

"What?"

"I know...Fiona did some bad things..."

"You mean _terrible _things."

"...yeah. But I just wanna make sure that...we aren't doing this for the wrong reasons."

Sally sat up. "What do you mean, wrong reasons?"

"I haven't seen a lot, but I know that look," Honey said. "Thatt's the look of someone who really wants to make someone pay."

"She deserves to pay for the things she's done," Sally said. "I know what you're getting at. I'm...I'm not gonna kill her. But I am gonna beat the crap out of her the first chance I get."

Honey was still wary of Sally's hunger for revenge. She and Sally didn't know each other that well, but it was nonetheless terrifying.

"One day," Sally said. "You'll know what it feels like. Maybe not now, but one day."

"I'm not you."

"That's true. But you have no idea how many times I've been betrayed. By my father, by my closest friend, by Fiona..." Sally said. "I have to be strong...for everyone. Like Rosie told me to."

"That was a long flight to stay up," Ten said.

"That was long flight to sleep," Gris replied. "How many hours was that? Thirteen?"

"Yeah, and I slept the entire way," Ten yawned, stretching his arms.

Gris chuckled, before a serious expression came across him. "Keep walking," He said.

"Why? Is someone..." Ten tried to look behind him before Gris turned his head back.

"Yeah, someone's following us."

"Why?"

"Probably because of our last mission."

"...Why?"

"Ten, that's gonna get old real quick. Now, when we get to the exit, we're gonna run like hell."

"That doesn't really suit you-"

"And then, we're gonna take cover."

"Okay, this is starting to make more sense. But shouldn't we try to be more casual? Blend in with everyone else?"

"We can't risk him hurting or killing anyone."

"Or her."

"Yes, or her..."

"And then what are we going to do?"

"Well, this guy is probably going to shoot at us. A lot. So I haven't really figured that part out."

"Of course you haven't."

"5," The person behind them said.

By pure instinct, Gris turned around and looked at them. "What?" He asked. The person standing behind them was a orange hedgehog wearing a black robe.

"4," She continued.

Gris turned back around. "We should run now." The two picked up the pace as the girl kept counting down.

"3."

They reached not thirty feet from their previous location before Gris turned around and saw that she hand some sort of hand cannon attached to her arm. She pointed it at a citizen.

Gris started back towards her, and at the same time, Ten followed him.

"GRIS, DON'T!" He yelled out, but it was too late. The girl moved her hand cannon and pointed it at Gris, shooting. The recoil made her aim sloppy, and it missed Gris...but it hit Ten right in the head.

Right as Honey and Sally were about to head off, Honey noticed that there was a large smoke plume coming from nearby, about maybe 30 miles away.

"What is that?" She asked.

Sally looked towards the smoke as well. "I...don't know. It looks like it's coming from the airport."

"Airport?" Honey said. Suddenly, something flashed in her mind. "TEN!" She immediately ran off in a rush towards the airport.

"Honey! What the hell are you-" Honey was already far off. "Dammit."

She tapped and held on her wrist communicator.

"Sonic!" She said.

"_What's going on, princess?" _He asked.

"Get Bunnie and a Ring ready, and meet me in Station Square!"

"_Hold on. What's going on?"_

"Your cousin just ran off in a hurry towards the airport."

"_Oh yeah, the place with all the smoke coming from it-"_

"SONIC!"

"_Alright, alright." _There was a click from the other line. Sally flicked up on the screen, and tapped and held again. This time, the picture of a light brown lynx showed up.

"_Yes, Princess Sally?" _The lynx said.

"Nicole, get ready for corporealization."

"_Are you sure it's ready?" _Nicole asked.

We won't know unless we try it.


	11. Comatose

Honey jumped and took to the skies, her wings flashing into view from her holo-wing emitters. She zoomed towards the airport, as the city came into view. As she inched closer, a zap of electricity went through her body, and she crashed to the ground.

"Oh come on," She groaned. She heard the sounds of guns clicking, and she looked up. She saw a black tiger with white stripes holding the barrel of a gun to her face before inching it away.

"She's not one of them," He said. More soldiers approached. He helped Honey up. "You must be a Freedom Fighter."

"How did you know?" Honey asked.

"Well, they don't just give holographic equipment to any old citizens."

"Well, I've had these for most of my life actually."

"So are you saying you stole government property?" He said, giving her a stare of suspicion.

"Um, uh..." She pointed to the force field, which was now visible. "What's that?"

"I find it hard to believe you don't know about the thing that almost took you out of commission."

Honey grunted frustratingly.

"It's a force field. At least, we think. Nothing we've been doing to take it down has been working."

"Well, don't force fields usually have a shield limit? Don't they go down if you damage them enough?"

"They should," The tiger said. "But this one hasn't. It seems this one has been taking our ammo and using it as fuel for the long journey of pissing us off."

"...let me try something." Honey's hair and the tip of her tail turned white, as small waves of electricity emanated around her. The soldiers looked on in shock, but they somewhat understood what she was trying to do.

She lifted her foot towards the force field, and expected an electric shock. But nothing happened. Her foot had phased through the force field. She turned her head and looked at the black tiger. "You and your men, take my hand."

They all reached for her hand but she shooed them off.

"No! I mean...which one of you is the most pain resistant."

"Me," A white cat said, stepping forward.

"Oh, uh..." Honey blushed. "T-take my hand then. I'm going to course a lot of electricity through you, then it will transfer between all of you. And then all of you should be able to get through the barrier."

The white cat took Honey's hand, then the others followed, creating a line.

"Are you ready?" Honey asked. The white cat nodded, and Honey started forcing electricity through the soldiers. They all winced, but the white cat was groaning in pain. "RUN!" Honey exclaimed. They ran into the force field, and shifted through it. The soldiers collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.

Honey looked down at them, and then looked towards the airport, which was now in view, despite all the towering buildings.

"Sorry," She said. "But I got to go."

Ten opened his eyes slowly as he saw the intense wreckage that was laying before him. Supports were torn down, wooden and steel beams laying in heaps. (I swear to god, if one of you even thinks it...) He was laid out on the floor, and had no idea what was happening. He tried to get up, but felt a sharp pain shoot through his head. His head met the ground in an impactful fashion, and he yelped in pain. He rolled over to his stomach, and laid on the ground. He grabbed something, and pulled himself up to his feet. He wiped the blood from his head, and stood up straight.

"Where the hell is that gray fox?" He asked himself.

He then heard a large ruckus outside.

"Of course, with my luck, that would happen only when I ask where Gris is..."

Ten trotted towards the door, a wave of blood obscuring his right eye. Or maybe it was the smoke. Either way, he could not see out of his right eye, and that was a problem.

He reached the doorway, and peered outside. The doors from the many entrances to the airport were shattered, much like Ten's skull. But regardless, it still seemed to be standing.

He looked around, as cars were toppled over. It was a definite maybe that Gris was probably not here.

"He wouldn't be hiding from a merciless killer, he would be-"

Suddenly, there was a massive laser that shot towards a car.

"I should just stop talking," Ten said. He ran as fast as he could behind a nearby car and took cover.

"So you aren't dead after all, are you?" Ten heard the girl call out.

"Ten?" He also heard Gris call out. "Is that true, or is this a ploy to get me to come out of cover?"

"No, I'm alive!" Ten called back. "I wish I wasn't, though..."

"ENOUGH OF THIS! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?" The girl called out.

Gris stood up from cover. "_Excuse _me, miss. I am trying to check on my friend."

"You think I care? Vladislava, one of the Elites of the Lost, does not deal with such stupid..._feelings._"

"Were you bullied in high school?" Ten asked.

"Ten, you aren't really helping right now."

"Sorry, I'm still feeling loopy. You know, from being shot in the head."

"ENOUGH!" Vladislava shouted. She revealed her arm, which still had the laser cannon attached to it. "DIE." The beam charged up, and shot off multiple, speeding lasers that scattered around everywhere.

Honey heard a large rumble as she ran closer and closer to the airport. As she saw the airport in full view, she suddenly felt something pull back on her hair. She turned around, and saw Sonic.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked.

Honey sighed. "Don't scare me like that, Sonic..."

"Answer the question." His white t-shirt and red jacket was ripped, leaving the impression that he was in a fight.

"Ten...he...I just knew. Something happened to him. He can hold his own, but I just had a feeling."

"Oh, I gotcha."

"What happened to you?"

"These Lost guys don't play around."

"Oh, I figured."

"So, how are we gonna go about this?" Sonic asked.

"What do you mean?" Honey asked back.

"Well, we have five minutes before Sally shows up and scolds you for abandoning the mission. She'll maybe try to fight you, then commend you for putting aside everything for the good of Mobian-kind after you beat her."

"I think I want to avoid the fighting and just get to the 'saving-my-brother-before-he-dies' part."

"Good choice. Let's get going."

Vladislava roamed the barren parking lot, looking for the two troublemakers. They had cause a lot of misfortune for the plans of the Lost when they attacked them those three days ago.

"Come out, come out, come out..." She said in a sing-song voice.

She passed a white motorcycle, and saw a gray t-shirt. She didn't think, she only acted. She shot at the t-shirt, which she had mistaken for one of them. She soon noticed her mistake, but something seemed wrong. She looked down at her hand cannon, and noticed that the lights that had illuminated it were powered off. She felt her back lighten, and a metal clang was heard a few feet back from her. She turned around, and felt the heel of a shoe connected to a foot collide with her jaw. She spun around, and stumbled forwards into a cement barricade. She was wearing a scarlet bodysuit with red fingerless, padded gloves. She turned around, an angry look on her face.

"You know what type of kick that was?" The gray fox asked.

"Your name is Gris, isn't it?" Vladislava asked. "How does it feel knowing that you've just sealed your fate?"

"That's not the name of the martial art it belongs to . It belongs to Thai boxing, a martial art I practice for fun. I was actually planning on getting into the local Muay Thai circuit. So you know what that means?"

"Oblige me."

"You've tried to hurt thousands upon thousands, and you've probably suceeded. And that doesn't go well with me. So you know what I'm going to do?" He put his hands up into his Muay Thai stance in a swift motion. "Excuse my language...but I'm going to kick your ass for fun, since you seem to enjoy doing it to others."


	12. Retribution

Vladislava was distracted by the absence of the gray fox's shirt. But the thought found itself thrown out by force, as was everything she felt.

"You don't understand the world we live in, do you?" She asked, putting her hands up as well. She launched her fist at him, and he caught it with his hand.

"Try me," He replied, swinging his leg around and catching her on the left cheek with his foot. She kept swinging her fists at him, trying to be as precise as possible, but it was to no avail. As she swung, she kept on talking.

"You have no idea of the way things have changed..!" She tried to catch him with her right fist. He blocked it.

"All the heartache Mobians have suffered during these past few hundred years!" She swung her leg at him, and he caught it, retaliating by kicking her back and forth, two times.

She stumbled backwards. "This new world...it's worse than anything we could ave imagined. All these new authorities, all these new powers, and abilities...they have brought nothing but bloodshed and anger."

"That doesn't mean you can just up and kill as many people as you want!" Gris exclaimed.

"Why do you care?!" Vladislava yelled back. "Your reputation precedes you. You hated everyone and everything, and when the chips were down, you could care less about the people that helped you. So why the change? WHY?!"

With Vladislava leaning against the barricade once more, Gris stepped forward, lowering his stance. She picked it up, and slipped it on. He grabbed his dog tags, and yanked them from his neck, and held them in his palms for a few seconds. He held them towards the orange hedgehog, still cautious.

"This is why." There were several dog tags, maybe about five or six. "These are the names of all my comrades that died or were lost in the war. Except one."

"...it's of the kid, isn't it?" Vladislava laughed.

"Yes, it is."

"You have that little faith in him, that you would predict his own death days after you've met him?"

"That's not it." Gris sighed. "Out of all the comrades I've had, I wasn't able to save a single one. Except Ten."

"Don't hold your breath," Vladislava said. "You two aren't going to make it out alive."

"...look, girl, I don't know what happened to you...but I bet it was awful. It was despicable, even, I'm guessing. But I'll give you one chance, and one chance only. Just walk away."

Vladislava looked down at the ground. Gris began to approach her.

"...no..." She said quietly.

"What?" Gris said, stopping in his tracks.

"I SAID NO!" She yelled, and she slammed her knee into his stomach.

Honey walked into the airport's parking lot. The place was massive, and there was no way she could find her brother, if he were anywhere around.

"TEN!" She called out. "TEN! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Ten just laid against the car, the bleeding from his head now subsiding. But he could tell that he was in no condition to fight. If Gris couldn't beat this girl, then they would be screwed.

He grabbed a part of the car and pulled himself up.

"Fuck," He winced as the pain shot through his head again. He didn't know where he was going, so he just walked forwards.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice in the distance, calling out his name. But he dismissed it as his mind playing tricks on him from all the blood loss. But still, he could not shake this feeling that that was not the case.

He turned around, and started heading towards the voice. He could not care less, but he had to find out what or who that voice belonged to. Whether it was in his head, or in plain sight.

And soon, he saw a familiar girl in the distance.

His sister.

He ran towards her at full speed. "HONEY!" He yelled out. She looked towards him, and a look of shock came over her face. She started to run towards him as well. AS they came within distance, instinct took over, and Ten tackled her to the ground, wrapping his arms around her. She groaned in pain and laughed at the same time.

Vladislava swung a loose bumper at Gris. She did not care if she missed or not, but her logic dictated that she would hit him sooner or later.

She swung it at him horizontally. He arced his back so that way the bumper would miss his stomach.

"Y'know, this isn't really a fair fight-"

"SHUT UP!" She rammed the side into his stomach, and he gasped, stepping back. She then slammed it into his chest, ripping his t-shirt. The wind was knocked out of him, and he was leaning against the barricade.

There was a visible red tint to Vladislava's cheeks.

"Are you going to fight...or not?"

"SH-SHUT UP!"

"If you say so." Catching her off guard, he ran into her, slamming his shoulder into her stomach, taking her down. She gasped as Gris mounted her, slamming his fist into her right cheek, then her left. After a few moments of this, her arms fell limp and to the side. She whimpered slowly as Gris put his hands down onto the ground. Or so he thought. He placed his hands down, and as he did so, Vladislava's eyes shot wide open. He looked down at her in shock, not expecting her to have regained consciousness so quickly. She looked down at her chest, and saw that one of his hands was placed on her breast.

They looked at each other for a few moments, and then Gris slowly got up, and walked away. Vladislava stared on, her anger increasing by the second.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" She yelled and, began to run after him at a full sprint.

"I'm so glad that you're okay," Honey said.

"How did you know how to find me?" Ten asked.

"Something felt off. I don't know. I mean, you're my brother. It just clicked."

"Well, it's a good thing you did. I don't think I could-" Then, Ten saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at it, and saw Gris running at full speed. And he saw the girl with a pistol behind him. "GRIS! WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

"I DID A THING, AND I DON'T THINK IT WAS THE RIGHT THING!" He called back. His echoing voice was soon followed by three gunshots.

"What did he do?" Honey asked.

"I don't know, actually. GRIS! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"I TOUCHED A THING, AND I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS THAT, AND-"

"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID YOU PERVERT! NOW SLOW DOWN AND QUIT MOVING SO I CAN KILL YOU!" Ten heard the girl yell.

"I think...he groped her."

"Ten, are you really friends with people like that?"

"Nah, Gris doesn't roll like that. Knowing his cluelessness when it comes to girls, he probably did it on accident."

"Oh. Should we help him?"

"Probably. But let's just wait and see what happens."

Honey sighed, and ran down to the parking lot again.

"Oh, come on, I was just kidding," Ten said.


	13. Recall

Sally walked up to the entrance to Station Square. She didn't know whether to be angry or happy that Honey ran off to the city, otherwise they would not have been wised up to the attack that was going on in the city.

Nicole walked up next to her. "Something seems to be troubling you, Sally."

"It's nothing," Sally replied.

"It must be something," Nicole said. "Minor psychological analysis shows that something may be bugging you."

"You ever want to get back at someone, Nicole?"

"Yes. When those rogue G.U.N. agents slipped the I-virus through my firewall, I wanted to get revenge for what they made me do. But nonetheless, it is not something that plagues my mind."

"What makes you think it plagues my mind?"

"Your intensity about the subject. Whether talking about it to Honey or facing Fiona head on...it's rather obvious."

"I just want her to pay."

"We all do. But you should wonder—does everyone want her to pay like you do?"

Sally sighed.

"Sally. Ever since your days as a princess being trained in strategy to your days starting out as leader of the Freedom Fighters, I have had your back. But don't get that notion...'twisted,' as they say. If you hurt one of our friends in your prolonged and tedious effort to get revenge...I won't be afraid to take you down, regardless of whether I am corporeal or not."

"COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!" Vladislava yelled. Gris, Ten, and Honey were hiding behind a toppled car surrounded by cement barricades.

"So, you must be Ten's sister," Gris said.

"And you must be his perverted friend," Honey retorted.

"H, come on, he didn't know what he was doing. Right Gris?"

"Y-yeah." Gris was still blushing from his previous mistake.

"So, how are we going to handle this?" Ten asked.

"Ten," Gris said. "I think you need to get out of here."

"What do you mean?" Ten asked.

"You were just shot in the head by a laser, the wound didn't cauterize, and-"

"You were shot in the head?!" Honey exclaimed.

"Yeah, but I've been shot in the head a bunch of times."

"That's not something you should be proud of," Gris said.

"Well, if you hadn't tried to run back to save that lady, this wouldn't have happened!"

"Ten..." Honey said.

"Look, Ten, I'm sorry. But I wasn't gonna stand by while somebody could have been murdered because of something we did."

Ten sighed.

Gris spotted a pile of collapsed rubble, and pointed towards it. "Just go up there. If I get in trouble-"

"We," Honey corrected him.

"We...if _we _get in trouble, you take her down."

"You got it," Ten said. Suddenly, he disappeared.

"...wait, couldn't he have done that if he wanted to-"

"Well, well, well," A voice from behind them said. Their backs were to a car, so even if they wanted to, they could not see who was talking to them. But Gris had a feeling he knew.

"...why are you talking to a car?" He asked.

"SHUT UP!" She growled. She fired off a bunch of rounds into the car before the familiar sound of an unrewarding click was heard repeatedly. "COME OUT HERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS FOR WHAT YOU JUST DID!"

"Wouldn't it be easier for you to come over here?" Honey asked.

"WHO IS THAT?!"

"No one in particular," Gris said. "You wouldn't happen to have another shirt, would you?" He asked Honey.

"ANOTHER SHIRT? J-JUST WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT?"

"Nothing like that. I'm not looking for anyone right now..." Gris mumbled to himself.

"I'll handle this," Honey said. Her hair turned white, as well as the tip of her tail. The familiar crackle of lightning was heard.

"Whoa," Gris said. "Where did that come from?"

"JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING BACK THERE?"

Honey jumped up, higher than the toppled car. She landed on the ground, sliding to regain her balance.

She jumped up, onto her feet.

"So, you think you're tough, don't you?" Vladislava said.

"It's how I've survived this long," Honey replied. "Why are you doing this?"

"Oh, yes. You weren't here when I gave the spiel about how doomed Mobius is..." A purple aura surrounded Vladislava. "Unfortunately, I'm not going to say it again."

Honey sighed. "I don't want to fight. I just want you to stop all this."

"They never do want to fight. That's why we're all doomed." A long white pole shot up from the ground and into Vladislava's hands. "I suppose it's good I waited to use this. What is your name?"

"...it's Honey," Honey replied. "Honey the Cat."

"Well then." She got into a pose, and her power seemingly intensified. "I am Vladislava Zakelennoye! The 10th Elite of the Lost Ones!"

Honey looked surprised.

"Prepare yourself, Honey the Cat. Because the only way you'll be walking out of here is if I decide to not cut you limb from limb!"

Nicole seemingly shuddered. Something was definitely wrong.

"Nicole?" Sally said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I am detecting high amounts of Chaos energy at the airport," She said.

"That's where Honey was heading. We'd better hurry up-"

"Heyyyy..." Sonic said as he sped up to them. For once in her life, Sally wasn't scared out of her wits when she saw him.

"Sonic! Where's Honey?"

"Oh, I let her know where to go."

"You let her go?!" Sally exclaimed.

"I'm right here, Sal, Jesus," He said.

"Why would you let her go by herself? That has to be the most idiotic thing you've done?"

"And what were you gonna do? Huh? Try and fight her when you caught up to her, and extend the destruction of Station Square?"

"...no..."

"Well, it sure seems like you have a knack for that. I let her go because I believe in her. She's my cousin, after all. And I don't know about you, but electrokinesis is a pretty bitching power if you want to defend yourself."

Sally sighed. She looked down.

"Look, Sal. She'll be fine. We have more important things to worry about."


	14. Mystify

Honey flipped back as the pole followed her, seeming to have a mind of its own as it sought out to strike her. A beam of light shot by her shoulder, cutting it. She winced, and the pole turned to the dull side and struck her in the face, knocking her down. She breathed heavily as she tried to rest her body, remaining on the ground.

"You know, I am surprised that you've survived this long. Not every mortal gets to stay alive long enough to see me do this. But I suppose we've just met, and I needed to even the playing field."

"You think...just because you have some fancy lasers, that you're better than me?" Honey asked, looking up. There was a large bruise smack dab in the middle of her face.

Meanwhile, Gris looked on in silence.

"_Hey, Gris..." _Ten began to say. Gris nearly forgot her left his earpiece on. _"This looks like trouble."_

"Yeah," Gris replied. "I know." A memory seemed to be passing through his mind at that moment.

Gris and Ten walked silently through the hideout of the Lost. It as humongous, more befitting of a private militia. Even the 'Big Leagues' didn't have a set up like the Lost did, and they were a seemingly petty gang.

"This place is ginormous," Gris whispered, his gray army uniform looking as...him...as ever.

"Yeah. Aren't these guys like small time or something?" Ten asked.

"I'm starting to think that isn't the case here." He spotted an open door, and motioned for Ten to take one side while he took the other. The two slid onto the sides of the door, being careful as to not trip a motion sensor. Ten peered in, aiming his sights down.

"It's clear," He whispered to Gris.

Gris walked in, examining the room for himself. You could never be too sure. He holstered his G.U.N., and saw that there was a huge computer occupying the room.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot," Ten said. "You wanna take this one?"

"Sure, why not?" Gris said. "Guard the door."

"You got it, boss," Ten replied, going to the side of the door, peering out every so often.

"Decryption at ten percent," Gris said.

"Nice. You must be pretty good at this."

"Eh, we were all taught it in the Army of the Sands. Although, I don't exactly know why."

"Heh. Whatever happened to them anyway? Miss Deck always told us that when they found you, you were all by yourself, back at their headquarters."

Gris stopped typing for a second. He cleared his throat, as if something was crawling up it. "We...we were trained in being tough. You kill some guy's entire family in front of him, and he wouldn't even flinch. That's how tough some of the guys were. Our entire platoon...we were one of the last ones left. It was a custom in the army. The One-Shot. Platoons were a one-and-done deal, and newer ones weren't created. If more than half the squadron died, the rest would leave. We were all on a mission, and each one of us was getting picked off, one by one. There was just me and this girl left. We had no feelings for one another, but it was at this moment that I thought, 'she probably has a boyfriend.' And at that moment, I did something I thought I would never do," He said. "I ran away."

Ten turned around and looked at Gris, who was now crying.

"I just ran with her. And I didn't look back. When we got back to our base, I told her why I did what I did. It was in vain, of course, but I didn't know why she did what she did next."

"What did she do?" Ten asked, pressing the button to close the door.

"She...she kissed my forehead, and she wiped the tears from my face, and she left. She even offered to give me a ride, but I refused. I don't know how long I was there. Maybe a few days."

Gris wiped the tears from his face, and continued to clack away at the keyboard.

"It's at fifty percent now."

"So, why didn't the Army of the Sands not keep creating platoons to balance out their losses?"

"We were just a bunch of altruists looking to make the world a better place. The top guys there thought it would be sort of fucked up if we tried to 'replace' the men and women who had lost their lives."

"I'll bet."

"100 percent."

"Good."

Gris looked through the files, but saw only one that was accessible.

"So what'd this girl look like?"

Gris tapped on the file as he responded to Gris. "Oh, she was an orange..." He was baffled by what he saw. "...hedgehog."

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing. There's nothing valuable here, just some grunt workers. Let's keep moving."

Ten was the first out of the room. Gris looked back before he exited the room. On the screen was an orange female hedgehog wearing a red bodysuit. For some reason, Gris smiled.

Gris looked on. Honey picked herself up slowly, and a small line of electricity formed from her hands.

"You think that will stop me?" She said, swinging the pole into Honey's jaw. She spat out saliva onto the floor, crying out in pain as a deep, red cut went across her cheek.

"You...you can't do this..." Honey said, the white disappearing from her hair and tail.

"Why not?" Vladislava said, ramming the flat end of the pole into Honey's stomach. She gagged and coughed, and stumbled backwards. "Do you not know the pain that this world has caused me?" She tossed her weapon to the side.

"But...you can just-" Honey was cut off as Vladislava's fist met her stomach. She gasped for air as blood dripped onto the ground.

"NO." Vladislava then rammed her fist into Honey's jaw, and she let out one last cry before falling to the ground, losing consciousness. Vladislava knelt down next to Honey to see if she was still conscious. Honey just looked up at the sky, her mind hazy and her vision blurred. Vladislava picked her up by the hair, forcing Honey to look at her. She held her fist up, and began slamming it into Honey's cheek, repeatedly and slowly, as if there was a method to this madness. Honey cried out each time, until Gris was finally at his peak. He jumped up, and vaulted over a cement barricade towards Vladislava. He motioned towards Ten to make his move.

_It doesn't matter if she's that same girl that I saved before, _He thought to himself. _She has to be stopped._

A white, sharp beam shot out of Ten's hand. It zoomed past Gris, hitting Vladislava straight in the shoulder and taking of a couple of strands of Honey's hair. Vladislava cried out, and sttod up, dropping Honey's head back down to the floor. She turned around, and saw Gris heading straight for her. Before she could think, his shoulder was deep into her stomach, and he sent her flying into a cement barricade. She rebounded, and looked at him.

"I finally know now. You are truly insane, aren't you?"

Gris picked Honey up bridal style, and noticed a small relic fell out of her back pocket. He wasn't sure of what he was more surprised over, the relic, or skirts having back pockets. Regardless, he set her down, and picked up the relic. It was oddly shaped, but something came over him. He clenched the object as tight as he could, and felt a wave of electricity surge through him. After a few moments, he dropped the relic. His hair was white, and there was an overall intense feeling about him.

"...not that it matters, but it's really you, isn't it?" Gris asked.

"...it is-" Suddenly, Gris sped towards her, and slammed his fist into her jaw. She spun multiple times as she was sent flying backwards.

She got up, and shot a purple beam at him. He barely dodged it, and ran towards her. He let go a barrage of attacks towards her. She was barely able to block every single one.

"So I have to ask," Gris said as he continued his attack. She caught one of them, and tried to slam him into the ground. He just flipped backwards, and landed on his feet. "Why are you really doing this?" But now it was her turn. She tried her hardest to keep up with his pace.

"Do you have any idea...of the horrors we were faced with in the Army of the Sands?" She said as she now let loose her barrage. It seemed that he could dodge every single attack before it was coming.

"Of course I do," He replied as continued dodging the attacks. She soon left an opening, and he spin around, using the momentum to plant a kick into her jaw. She slid back, holding it as she charged back at him, trying to continue her barrage. He could still dodge every single one. One caught him off guard, and sent him back. She capitalized, kicking him in the stomach. He doubled over, and she slammed her knee in his face as he did so. He stumbled backwards, and was barely able to dodge as she shot another beam at him. He rushed at her, catching her off guard, starting up his barrage of attacks again.

"But the entire world isn't like this, Vladislava," He said, using one last punch to knock her down. The aura disappeared from her as Gris' hair turned back to normal. "We saw some shit in the Army, but you don't have to do this to let all that anger and sadness and fear out."

She stood up slowly, giving him a cold stare.

"NO!" She yelled, charging at him. She threw a wild fist at him, and he dodged it easily. "I'VE TRIED SO HARD SINCE I LEFT TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE!" One more wild attack. "WE DID NOTHING TO HELP ANYONE!" She raised her fist. Before she began to shudder. "WE were hopeless. WE only caused more pain and suffering." She rushed at him again, and this time, he retaliated by taking her down. He mounted her and held his fist up. But he didn't punch her.

"We may have not have made a difference...but we tried. You don't remember. All the people we made happy, regardless of what happened."

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK-"

"It doesn't matter how hard the impact is, or how big the difference is, what matters is that you still made ONE!" He finally began his attack. He slammed his right face into her cheek once. "And if I have to beat that into you..."

Twice. "SO!"

Three times. "BE!"

Four times. "IT!" Vladislava's head tossed to the side as her eyes were jarred closed from his last punched. Her breathing was shallow as she seemed to lose consciousness. He put his hands down, watching where they were going this time. "You can't save the world and help others if there isn't a world to save, if there aren't people to help."

Vladislava was just breathing heavily. She remained motionless, as Gris picked himself up. Honey walked next to him slowly.

"What...was that?" She asked him.

"I don't know," Gris replied.

"So, uh, about the way you carried me..."

"It means nothing."

"Of course! Of course." Honey looked down at Vladislava. "It seems like you care about her more."

"That's not it, either. Had it been Ten acting like this, I would've done the same thing."

Honey chuckled. "You really wanna help others, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Gris smiled. "We _were _a group of altruists."

Ten ran towards the two. "Whoa," He said, as he looked at Vladislava's body. "Is she dead?"

"No," Gris replied. "She's just out."

"Well, if you want to interrogate her yourself or something, I'm pretty sure the Freedom Fighters would be more than willing to-"

"No. I'll be fine. I just needed to do this." He walked towards the exit of the parking lot.

Ten hesitated for a moment. Then he followed. "Hey, Gris, wait up!"

Honey sighed. She sat down for a moment, wondering what had happened while she was out. But she knew one thing. She might as well had just failed her mission. She looked down at the ground, and sighed once more.

_Never again, _she thought. _Never again._


	15. Remembrance

"There's slight facial bruising," Vanilla said as she examined Honey. "There's also a large cut on the left cheek, as well as several PhysCon wounds to the face."

Honey sighed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Vanilla asked. She was wearing a long doctors jacket with black jeans, a rather unorthodox choice for a doctor such as herself.

"Nothing."

"There has to be something wrong, if you feel the need to keep sighing."

"I just..." Honey looked down. "I feel so weak. She was beating the shit out of me, and there was nothing I could do. I thought I was strong enough to take care of these things by myself, but I guess not."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. There was Chaos residue in your cut, so that means that that girl was using a weapon made entirely out of Chaos energy. I don't even think your cousin could have handled it."

It seemed like forever, but three days had already passed since Gris defeated Vladislava. And Honey hadn't heard from Ten in that time.

"I just don't know how she could've beaten me so easily."

"Well, I guess you could-"

Suddenly, the automatic door slid open, and in walked a gray fox with a gray t-shirt and brown pants. Vanilla looked surprised.

"Oh, uh, Gris, I didn't know you were allowed to walk around after just three days," She stuttered.

"It's fine. I actually healed up pretty quick," He said. He noticed Honey was sitting there on the hospital bed, still looking at him. "I didn't know you were here."

"Same to you too..." She said. "Where's Ten?"

"He's off doing something..." Gris said

"Doing what?" Honey asked.

"...I...don't know."

"Ugh," Honey groaned.

Vanilla threw a bottle of pills at Honey. "Take these after you partake in physical activity. I give them to all Freedom Fighters, but I forgot to issue you one the day you arrived."

Honey stood up from the bed. Her stomach was bandaged up from the hits she had taken, and her right cheek was also bandaged up.

"Well, I guess I'd better get-"

"Oh, no you don't!" Honey said. "You're going to help me look for my brother."

"W-well, um...okay..."

Honey, pulled Gris along as they searched through the city for Ten. Gris couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, as no one really dragged him anywhere. He usually went of his own volition, but now he being pulled along by this girl who he hardly knew.

"Hold on a second," Gris said. He planted his feet into the ground, and Honey looked back at him.

"What?" Honey said.

"Is there a problem?" Gris asked.

"A problem?" Honey replied. "Why would there be a problem?"

"Well, it's just that I barely know you and you're being pretty stand-offish. Ten told me that you were pretty nice after all, so I didn't really expect-"

"I didn't expect to get my ass kicked so easily by your friend, either, but I guess things don't go as planned," Honey retorted.

"She's not my friend," Gris said. "If I had known what she was going to do, I wouldn't have let her go so easily."

"You just came out of nowhere, and took her down so easily," Honey said. "It just makes me..."

"It's not your fault that she had beat you so easily. She was using Chaos energy..." Gris leaned against a wall. "But...to have something like that..."

"Hmm?"

"...I'm sorry, but I have to go do something. Ten told me he as going to be doing something on the east side of town, so he should be hanging out somewhere around there." Gris walked off, and continued walking off after Honey called after him multiple times.

Gris walked into the small containment facility in Mobotropolis. Despite being of little size, it could house some pretty powerful beings under lockdown. As he walked up to the door, two guards stop him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" One of them asked him.

"I need to see Prisoner 82C," He explained. "It's urgent."

"Look, you don't have permission to see her. Only Miss Acorn can see her, and-"

"What about me?" Sally said, walking up next to Gris. He was somewhat startled by her arrival, as were the two guards.

"Oh, uh, Miss Acorn..."

"That's me," Sally replied. "I need to see her."

"Oh, of course," One of the guards said. He opened the door, and as Sally started for it, Gris followed her. The guard immediately shut the door.

"Let him," Sally said. "It's important."

The guard opened the door reluctantly, and Gris and Sally both entered the small complex. At least, it seemed small.

"So you picked up on it too, huh?" Sally asked.

"Yeah. If we're talking about the same thing, that is," Gris replied.

"The Chaos weapon."

"Yeah."

"How'd she get a hold of it?"

"I don't know. She couldn't have gotten it from her time in the army, because we never kept anything we found. And the commanders were really strict in their processes."

"So, that means that the Lost has gotten a hold of Chaos weapons."

"Yeah. Probably a lot of them," Gris added.

"How do you know?"

"When me and Honey's brother were leading a strike on the Lost's headquarters, their compound was massive. Almost enough to hold a bunch of Chaos weapons."

"And there's supposed to be ten of these guys that are like her."

"Supposedly. But I don't know for sure. The only thing she said was that she was the 'tenth elite.'"

"Look, mister..."

"It's Gris. No mister."

"Gris. Honey has told me a lot about you from the letters that she's gotten from her brother. They say you're one of the strongest soldiers alive."

"I wouldn't say that. I just care a lot."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. But look. You got yourself and us into some deep shit. I'm saying that it's bad, because it's honestly been a bit dull around here. But you aren't thinking of leaving, are you?"

"I wasn't thinking of it." He smiled. "I don't abandon people so easily."

"God, you remind me of him," Sally sighed. They walked up to a small cell, where an orange hedgehog sat in.

"Let me handle this," He said. He walked into the cell by himself after Sally unlocked it. He waved her off, and she walked away, standing at the door.

"...you came back for me," Vladislava said after a few minutes have passed.

"...I didn't. I just needed you to tell me something."

She laughed. "It figures."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I did some bad things. I'll take responsibility for them," She said. She then gave him a somewhat intense glare. "But if you think I'm not gonna get back at you for beating me, you've got another thing coming."

Gris chuckled. "I'll take you up on that."

"So what do you want?"

"I want to know..." He began to say, pulling her weapon out that she used from a long bag. It was in a sturdy glass case. "Where you got this from."

"I don't know. At the Lost compound, this was waiting for me in my room one day. It was a gift from me being promoted to the position of 10th Elite," Vladislava explained.

"...thanks." Gris stood up, and walked out of the cell. He closed the door behind him, and Vladislava hung her head down again. He handed the bag for Sally. "It looks like they have them after all."

"Well, thanks for helping-"

"No problem. If I don't do it, no one else will."

"So just what were you doing with that girl?!" Honey asked.

"N-nothing," He said. "We were just-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" She grabbed his ear, and pulled him with her. "You're lucky Mom isn't here, otherwise you'd be really screwed."

"Don't remind me—ow." He pulled his ear away from her. "Do you know where Gris is?"

"He went off to do something. Why do you need to see him?"

"He wanted to talk to me about something, but he got all nervous when he tried to talk to me about it. I wanted to see if he wanted to talk about it now."

Honey looked behind Ten, and saw Gris coming towards them. "Well, there he is."

Ten looked behind him, and waved towards Gris. He had a problematic look on his face. As he walked towards them, he eyed Honey in a weird way.

"So, what were you going to talk to me about?" Ten asked Gris.

"...we can't talk about it in front of her," He said, pointing at Honey.

"...but she's my sister. We can trust her."

"She's a Freedom Fighter."

"Do you know how many people this woman has betrayed just for her family? Her friends?"

Honey looked down to the side.

"She doesn't seem to like that for some reason."

"I've lost a lot of my other friends because of it," Honey said. "But if it involves Ten, you aren't going to keep me out of it."

"I'll tell you then. But once I do, you can't go back."

"Fine then."

Gris sighed. "We're going to break into the prison. And we're going to get Vladislava out of there."


	16. Warden

Honey looked down on the ground. "Why?"

"I went to go question her with Sally, but I knew if I ever wanted to get more information out of her, we would need to break her out. So we're going to do it," Gris explained.

"...and what's the big deal?"

"Chaos weapons are the most dangerous things around. If the wrong person were to use them—someone worse than the Lost—the world would be screwed," Ten said.

"And now that we've told you, you have to help us," Gris said.

"No I don't," Honey said.

"But you just agreed to," Ten said.

"...fuck," Honey said. "I know a way into the place from up top, but..."

"But what?"

"But we're gonna need some help."

"Like from who?" Gris asked.

"...you aren't gonna like this."

"So, you want me to help you," Rouge said, smirking at Honey. This was the reason Honey hated asking Rouge for favors. Despite being friends, whenever Honey needed help, if Rouge were to get involved, there would always be some grand scheme. Shadow sat in the corner, wearing black jeans and a black long coat. He was examining one of his guns, and Honey had the constant fear that he would point it at her and end her life in an instant.

"Yeah."

"What's in it for me?" Rouge asked, getting in Honey's face.

"W-well, um," Honey stammered. "Why can't you just do it for me?"

"I don't work like that."

"What's the problem?" Shadow asked. His sudden question startled Honey, and made Rouge roll her eyes.

"The girl me, my brother and Gris were fighting, she had access to a Chaos weapon. And when Sonic came back, there was Chaos residue on his clothes, meaning that some of the grunts he was fighting had them too. And Gris thinks that if we break this girl out, she'll talk."

"A good old prison break," Rouge said.

"We'll help," Shadow said. Rouge scoffed, because she knew he wouldn't change his mind. "But you tell your friend to wait. We'll go tonight."

"Well, that isn't a long time to wait."

"And if there's a problem with the plan," Shadow began to say. He pointed his gun at Honey. "You three don't exist."

Honey sighed nervously.

"He won't kill you," Rouge laughed. "He might just break a rib or two."

Amy sat on the bed as she tossed her bat up into the air repeatedly. She sighed as she finally laid down on the bed. She pulled up a tarot card, and it looked different from most. She saw a rounded wing, and knew exactly what it meant. A few moments passed before she looked up, and she saw a familiar set of ears pass by her room. She got up quickly, and followed them.

"Honey!" She yelled out. She jumped, and turned around.

""You scared the crap out of me," Honey said.

"...I know what you're going to do."

Honey looked surprise. "YOU MEAN ROUGE-" She yelled out before Amy pulled her into her room. She shut the door.

"Rouge didn't tell me," Amy said. "Well, I mean she did, but that's beside the point."

Honey sighed. "So I guess this is the part where you say since we're rivals that you 'have to stop me' or something."

"...no. I want to help."

Honey was surprised. "Why do you want to help?"

"Well, just think. If me and Sonic were to have to face each other, and I could beat him and show him my determination to help others, even if it means betraying our love..."

Honey sighed.

"It would be so romantic," They said in unison, although Honey said it more monotonously.

"Okay then. You have to meet me at Rouge's apartment later tonight then. I'm sure Shadow can improvise something."

"Oh," Amy said, somewhat flustered. "Shadow's going to be there?"

"Yeah. I had to ask for him and Rouge to help us. I'm lucky she follows him without a hitch, otherwise I might be taking to the skies by myself."

"Yeah, I bet I know why she follows him without a hitch," Amy mumbled.

"What?" Honey said.

"N-nothing," Amy said, chuckling nervously. "I'll see you there."

Honey sat in Rouge's apartment on the couch, her eyes closed. She was extremely nervous, as she knew that what she was doing was probably on all accounts, illegal.

She was wearing a black version of her outfit that she had sloppily made, but it was pretty good for something she did when her nerves were shot.

Shadow walked in, and gave her a long stare.

"I don't trust you," He said.

She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I don't trust you."

"Why not?" Honey asked.

"With my experience with Rouge, it has come to my attention that a lot of you treasure hunters are liars and thieves."

"I'm not a thief," Honey mumbled.

"That may be true," Shadow admitted. "But why are you friends with someone like Rouge?"

"...promise you won't laugh," Honey said.

Shadow nodded.

"Well, me and Rouge, we're..."

"She told me she was a bisexual."

"Yeah...well...so am I. So, y'know..." Honey said, moving her arms in a weird mtoion, hoping he would put the pieces together.

"I see," Shadow said.

"Yeah."

"You two had sexual relations with each other."

Honey immediately turned as red as her regular clothes.

"Goddamn it, Shadow," Rouge said, walking in the door.

"You never told me you and this one were an...'item...'"

"WE weren't an item. It was just a friends with benefits type of thing," Rouge said. She gave Honey a sensual look. "It still can~"

If Honey could get any redder than what was possible, she could. Gris and Ten followed Rogue into the apartment, and finally, Amy walked in.

"What is _she _doing here?" Rouge asked.

"She'll be helping us," Shadow said. "For whatever reason..."

Amy sighed. "I guess I'm not wanted here."

"That isn't it, we'd just prefer that-"

"You'd not be here at all," Rouge interrupted Shadow, trying to speak for him. Gris stood by Honey, who was now an infinite red.

"What happened to you?" Gris asked.

"N-nothing," Honey said. The red slowly disappeared from her cheeks, and she cleared her throat. While Amy and Rouge were bickering in the background, Shadow went over the plan.

He unrolled a map with a pen in his hand.

"What we will need to do first is cut the power to the facility. If we have any hopes of getting to that elevator without getting shot down, that's the only way. Luckily, there's a way for one of us to get into the maintenance room at the north side of the building. Rouge will take the north side of the building..." Shadow said. He gave the two arguing girls a stare, and they took it as a hint to stop talking and listen. "Rouge will take the north side of the building. It isn't heavily guarded, so she hasn't a thing to worry about."

"As if I would if it _were _heavily guarded..."

"Honey, you and Gris take the west side. Me and Amy will take the east side. If we take them both at once, they'll have to give one side up in favor of another. Whichever team makes it to the elevator will go down, grab the girl, and- -"

"Wait wait wait. You meant to say 'when both teams make it,' right?" Honey asked.

"...yeah, let's go with that," Shadow said.


	17. Jailbreak

Honey and Gris hid behind a small brick wall, their bodies concealed by their black clothes and the darkness surrounding them. In front of the wall they were hiding behind, was the compound Vladislava was in.

Honey sighed, which Gris noticed almost immediately.

"What's wrong?" Gris asked.

"I..." Honey began to say. "I don't know if I should do this. This seems...wrong."

"...I guess it does," Gris replied.

"I mean, these people gave me the chance of a lifetime. Hell, I grew up with them. And now, I'm betraying them."

"It's for a good cause," Gris explained. "Chaos Weapons...if they're in the hands of the Lost, we're gonna be screwed six ways from Sunday. But if this is our only chance at getting Vladislava to talk, I'm gonna take it."

"I guess so..."

"..when I was in the army, I had seen all these bad things happening. As a kid, I was a little shit," Gris said. "I was so disrespectful and only cared about myself. But when I joined the army, I saw that the world was so much more. That we can't waste it."

Rouge slowly slid the window open, as to not trip any alarms if there were any. She climbed in, landing on her feet in a sort of graceful way.

"I'm in, Shads," Rouge said, tapping her ear.

"_Don't call me that," _Shadow responded.

"What, it's fun! You can call me Rougy if you want..." Rouge said, teasing him.

Shadow sighed. _"The electricity panel should be somewhere in that room. You'll have to pick it carefully, because it's locked and has a lock-picking sensor."_

Rouge looked around carefully before she spotted a large rectangular box attached to the wall. She pulled out a small paperclip, bent it in a weird way, and walked over to the box.

"This box looks like it could take some work," She said. "This is a EGA-17."

"_The Freedom Fighters are supplied by G.U.N., so it shouldn't be a surprise." _

Rouge slowly inserted the pick into the lock. It resembled the shape of a key, and she couldn't go off of memory since she didn't know what the key looked like. "Easy does it there...just go in..."

"_...I bet you have a lot of experience in that," _Shadow said.

Rouge was surprised. "Shadow...did you just make a dirty joke?"

"_I suppose I did."_

Rouge mock cried. "My boy has become a man."

"_Just be quiet and unlock the box." _

Rouge laughed, and after a few moments, the box made a satisfactory click. Rouge waited a few moments, then opened the box's door slowly.

"Uh oh," She said.

"_'Uh oh?' What do you mean, 'uh oh?'"_

"There's a number pad here. Looks like you need to insert a code to get access to the circuit breaker." A holographic number pad glowed as it sensed Rouge's presence.

"_Try 1845," _Gris said from the other line. _"I saw a lot of the guards entering that number repeatedly, so it could work."_

Rouge was wary, but she didn't have a choice. "1...8...4...5..." The number pad beeped, and disappeared. "Let's get this show on the road." She switched off all of the electricty circuits except for the one that was powering the elevator. There was a large commotion, and Rouge slipped out the window.

Gris looked out the corner of the wall, and saw that the bright lights of the compund had been shut off.

"Come on," He whispered towards Honey. "Let's go."

They crawled towards the compound in a strange fashion, using their legs and nothing else to propel their movement. Honey's mind was now racing with thoughts not of conflicting decisions, but of just one: how they would get Vladislava out of the prison. There was a large commotion coming from the north side of the building, which Honey took as a sign that Rouge had in fact done her job. Why wouldn't she?

"Are you ready?" Gris asked as they neared the west side of the complex.

"Yeah." She tapped her ear. "Amy, are you and Shadow on the east side?"

"We sure are," Amy replied. She hung the corner, looking to make sure no one was there. "We're in the clear."

Shadow opened the window, practically slamming it open.

"SHADOW!" Amy whisper exclaimed. Luckily, no one heard the large sound of a window being slammed open.

"Come on," Shadow said. "Let's go."

Shadow crawled in the window, and Amy followed, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Maybe we won't have to meet up with any of those guys," Amy whispered.

"Here's hoping," Shadow replied.

The two slowly made their way to the elevator, where it seemed nothing was stopping them.

"Hey," Amy began to say. "Do you think we'll meet any of the Freedom Fighters here?"

"I wouldn't like to think so. But it would probably be too easy."

The two arrived at the elevator, and everything seemed to be going well. A bit too well, as far as Shadow was concerned. He was very suspicious of the whole ordeal.

"Something's wrong," He said.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"Why haven't any guards come over to where the blacked out areas are? They've only been staying near the maintenance room," Shadow explained, noting the constant commotion from near the back of the compound where the maintenance room was located.

"Maybe they're just stupid," Amy laughed. "We never really hired the smartest people for the job."

"That could be a possibility, but it is highly unlikely."

Suddenly, Honey and Gris snuck up into view, making it to the elevator unscathed as well.

"Something feels off," Gris said.

"I was thinking the same thing," Shadow replied.

"You think there would be more soldiers over here."

"I don't see the problem," Honey said. "That just makes our jobs easier."

"I suppose so," Shadow said. "But that doesn't erase the fact that it seems little bit off..." He tapped his ear. "Rouge, how's it looking over there?"

"_Not good," _Rouge replied. _"These jackasses haven't moved an inch. And they're blocking the window, so I can't get out."_

"Did you at least leave the elevator on?"

"_What kind of dumbass question is that? Of course I did," _Rouge replied rather snarkily.

Honey pressed the button to open the elevator, but nothing happened.

"Um...what is-" She said before Rouge interrupted her.

"_I'm sorry." _Suddenly, her voice clicked off, and a loud alarm went off.

"...fuck."


	18. The Long Way Down

Honey felt herself being pushed into the jail cell as she heard the iron bars close behind her. They were on the lowest level now, along with Vladislava. Rouge looked extremely flustered, not even looking at the group as they gave her scornful looks from inside the cell.

"Don't take it too hard, you guys," A guard said. "Rouge here was just doing what was best for you. She-"

"Shut the fuck up," Rouge said, her voice filled with disdain and worry.

"Now, now, Rouge, you wouldn't want me to call _her _down here and teach you a thing or two about respect again, would you?" The guard said.

"You wouldn't dare."

"I most certainly would." He snapped his fingers, and the guards grabbed Rouge, she tried to struggle, but it was of no use. (insert outdated silver meme here) "You see, these Lost fellows, they're about to do something bad. We can't have you guys ruining our chance at putting these fuckers away for good."

"You're hiding something," Gris said.

"No fucking shit, foxtard." They heard Amy struggling as they tried to put her in the cell next. There was the sound of a groan, and Honey put her head against the bars, and looked out. A large commotion suddenly followed as Amy ran towards the elevator. A gunshot was heard, and Amy yelled out in pain. But Amy continued on, making it into the elevator. The doors closed shut, not budging as the guards tried to pry them open. The was a loud sound as the elevator shot upwards, leaving them behind. The main guard yelled obscenities, then looked at Rouge with hate filled eyes.

"Do something then," Rouge said. The guard pulled out a sharp knife.

"Hold her still, boys," The guard said. He sounded like a half demon. His ears perked up, and a somewhat satisfied smile formed from his lips. He ran the knife into Rouge's stomach, and she fell the the floor. She gave him a cold stare, tears rolling down her face. He laughed. "You know, you're lucky I didn't do any major damage to her."

"You son of a bitch!" Shadow said, shooting a Chaos Spear at the guard. He dodged the Chaos-charged projectile, and pulled out a gun. He shot Shadow in the chest and he slumped to the ground. He was breathing heavily, and it looked like the life was draining from his body. The gun cocked again, but Honey stood in front of it.

"Are you crazy?" The guard asked, his finger on the trigger.

"...take me instead. Don't kill them," Honey said. "Please."

The guard laughed. "Fine then."

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The guard pulled the trigger, and a round fired off, the smell of gun smoke filling the air. Honey wondered what would wait for her when she died. The bullet entered her skull, and she collapsed to the floor. The last thing she heard was the screams from Gris and Rouge.

…

Nothing.

Honey just sat there in a dark void, silent. A yellow cat, like her, who was actually a mirror image of her, approached her. Red makeup was painted on her eyelids. The woman licked her lips as a sadistic smile formed from them.

"How mundane. How morbid. You gave up your life for those idiotic friends of yours."

"..."

"And now you're stuck here."

"...where am I?"

"You are stuck in the Void. You aren't dead, but you aren't alive, either. To be honest, I didn't think you'd come here so soon."

"What are you talking about?" Honey asked.

"This is the Trigger. Your life as you know it...after this...it will never be the same. You're going to fight leaders of government systems...corrupt gods and goddesses...sadistic gang leaders...and finally, _it._"

Honey sighed. "I...I can't. I'm dead."

"You're the one in the red dress. You can't die so easily. There are people you're supposed to meet. Dragons to slay."

The yellow cat walked up to her, a seductive look on her face.

"Kiss me...and I shall grant you life once more. To conquer these demons. We can both live on, and get revenge on those who have wronged you."

Honey's face softened.

"Or if it's not revenge you seek, then retribution. Salvation, for the people of this world. You couldn't possibly pass this opportunity up."

Honey hesitated. But she wanted to be alive again. She wanted to see her friends. She pressed her lips against the yellow cat's, but was surprised at how passionate she was getting. After a few moments, the yellow cat pulled away.

"Enjoy your new life," The yellow cat said, her body materializing into dust. Her laugh was still heard, and it echoed throughout the void.

Then she opened her eyes.

Honey pressed her palms over her eyes, trying to make sure that this was real. She lifted them off after a few moments, and saw a strange scene. The compound was reduced to rubble, and it seemed what was now the lower floors of the prison was now just a large pit that she was stuck in. She looked up, and saw a massive opening. It was cloudy, and the rain was pouring down onto her head. The black paint on her clothes washed off, leaving her with her regular attire of a red top and a red skirt. She was sort of embarrassed at this, since she had forgotten she had been that lazy to do it like that instead. She looked around to see if anybody familiar was around. There was no one.

She started to scale the large pit, her holo-wing emitters busted, most likely from the rain. She had climbed plenty of walls before, so this one was no different. A couple of times some stray rubble that she had used for support slipped and fell to the ground, hindering her process, but she would not falter. As she made it to the top, she felt a sense of worry overcome her. Like she wasn't going to like what was waiting at the top. When she made it up to the top, her worst fears had come true. Or at least, what she had expected. Mobotropolis was empty, some buildings broken, some unscathed, but nonetheless, something bad had happened.

She walked through the barren city. It was as she got close to the city center that she started to see some signs of life. People were...surprised to see her. She had wondered why. She hardly knew anyone, but it was like they had seen a ghost. She had only one place she could go.

As she made her way to Rouge's apartment, the surprised stares started to fade away, and people only gave her small glances. She walked up the stairs to Rouge's apartment, the sense of familiarity warming her heart. She knocked on Rouge's door, but heard nothing back. She knocked harder, and harder, until she got a response.

"Just a minute..." A woman said from behind the door, groggily. The door slowly opened, and from it, a white bat appeared. She was wearing a white t-shirt, black panties, and looked like she had just woken up. "Can I help...you..." She looked awfully surprised now.

"H-hi, Rouge..." Honey said.

Before she could react, Rouge wrapped her arms around Honey, practically squeezing the life out of her. She pulled her into the apartment, and sat her down. "Is it really you?!"

"I'm...me...I guess. What happened to everything?"

"Oh god...we thought you were dead! We saw you get shot in the head!"

"I don't know how I'm alive either," Honey replied. She moved her bangs, and felt her forehead for any weird things. Sure enough, it felt like there was a weird bump on her forehead.

"I'm just...so glad..." Rouge said. She was crying now. "I...I..."

Now Honey hugged her, while Rouge cried into her shoulder. She hiccuped and sobbed, not sure what to say.

"It's fine," Honey said. "I...I forgive you."

Rouge wiped the tears from her eyes, and just sighed. "You really don't know what happened? You didn't ask anyone?"

"They were giving me strange looks, like I was a ghost or something."

"...well then. It's...It's been six months."

"Since what?"

"Since you...died."


End file.
